Clocks, Bells and Whistles
by Fading Nom De Plume
Summary: After the summer, time ticks on and when two new girls appear at school, Danny Sam and Tucker suddenly find a new friend who seems just a bit stranger than the rest... She may just be a girl with a secret. Post Reality Trip, DannyxSam.
1. In which we meet strangers lacking candy

**This is an idea that I've had for a while now, so I think I'll try and write it out, see what happens. I really hope you like it, and if you don't, feel free to demand the wasted moments of your life back. You don't get them back though.**

There was very little that Danny Fenton disliked more than his first day of school. The Box Ghost - the reason he was currently late for the first day - ranked very near the top of that list.

"I am the Box Ghost!" he wailed annoyingly. "Fear the contents of my squareular wrath!" Another box of macaroni was hurled at Danny Phantom's head, exploding in his hair with minimal force.

"Dude, find a dictionary already." Danny said, pulling out the Fenton Thermos. "Whatever you just said is so not a word." He unscrewed the lid and with a final "Beware!", the Box Ghost was gone. Sighing heavily, Danny capped the thermos and began flying very very rapidly towards school.

Landing behind a conveniently placed tree, he quickly transformed back into Danny Fenton, shaking his hand roughly as the familiar blue ring seemed to hesitate. Moving from behind the tree, he entered the line of kids slowly shuffling into the building, looking just as excited as him.

"Hey Danny." Sam suddenly appeared behind him, resting her arm on his shoulder. "You do know that there's pasta in your hair, don't you?" Danny shook his head, and a noodle fell out.

"Stupid Box Ghost." he muttered, rubbing his hair and displacing Sam's arm. A miniature shower of macaroni hit the cracked sidewalk. "I swear, I think he exists merely to annoy me during my free time." He felt for his backpack before realizing that he had dropped it sometime during the fight. "Oh great. First day of school and I already lost my bag. Way to go Fenton."

"Duuuuude!" Danny turned around to see Tucker running towards him. "Dude, you will never guess what hit me on the way here!"

"Lemme guess." Sam muttered. "The fact that you look excited for a hundred and eighty days of misery?" Tucker skidded to an off-balanced halt and flailed his arms in a rather comic effort to stay upright. "Don't flat on your face first day. It's bad luck."

"I bring good luck to my friends." Tucker said, reaching back and pulling a backpack off of his oversized bag. "And am an avid collector of Danny Phantom memorabilia, including a mint condition backpack dropped during a fight this just moments with the Box Ghost." He handed Danny his backpack.

"Thanks Tuck." Danny said, feeling a little better. "I seriously thought I lost this- Wait, how did you know I was fighting the Box Ghost?"

"One, only one of your enemies would attack you with cereal, and I'm pretty sure that there are enough Froot Loops in there to last you until winter. And two, I've got all your recorded fights streaming live straight to my PDA." Danny was rooting through his backpack in hopes of Tucker's aforementioned free breakfast, but looked up at streaming live.

"Wait a minute Tuck." Danny said, looking at his friend strangely. "What do you mean my recorded fights? And how are they streaming live? There were no news casters there." Tucker shrugged and pulled out his PDA, quickly bringing up a video.

"I don't know who does it dude, but all your fights in the city limits are up on this site." He brought up the link quickly, and Sam leaned over his shoulder to watch Danny's latest fight. "Every fight cuts off either when the bad guy get sucked into the thermos or runs away. They don't even try to film you changing back. Its so cool!" He clicked away quickly and scrolled down the page, showing a long list of numbers. "They even have battle stats. Its awesome dude."

"Awesome?" Sam questioned. "It sounds dangerous. Danny, you should find out who's watching you. What if the find out your secret?"

"It seems safe enough." Danny said, grabbing a handful of Froot Loops and swallowing them. "Besides, Tuck said they don't film me detransforming. I'm not worried." He headed towards the door, still eating and just managed to beat the bell. "And now, to homeroom with…" He consulted the homeroom chart hastily taped to the wall. "Lancer. Again. I am not surprised."

"Neither am I, Mr. Fenton. With as often as I have to see you and your classmates, one would think I was this school's only teacher." Danny looked over his shoulder to see Lancer standing behind him, already looking displeased. "Now, please go inside so I can properly surprise the class without great effort on my part." To his credit, Danny did go inside.

"Hey, what do you think Lancer means by 'surprise'?" Sam asked as Danny sat down in the same chair he sat in all of the year before. "Maybe we'll have edible food in the caf this year." She sat down to his left.

"Sam, grass isn't food." Tucker said, sitting down to Danny's left. "Its probably that we all have to take another standardized test or something… Or that the cheerleading squad is hosting open gym." Sam opened her mouth to yell at him, but before she could, Mr. Lancer walked through the door, holding a sheet of pink paper.

"Alright class, I know you want to be here as much as I do, but state law and a hefty pension require that neither party leave. Now, let's get this over with." He held the piece of paper close to his nose, and read off it slowly. "As your teacher, insert name here, I am quite pleased to announce that even though our school has maintained the same group of children since kindergarten, you now should all be pleased to meet your new classmate, enter student's name here." Danny wasn't really paying attention, so he was concerned when Sam poked him with a pencil.

"Ow, Sam, what was that for?" Danny asked, not realizing that the entire class was asleep, and surprising himself with his own loudness.

"Fenton!" Mr. Lancer called out. "Be quiet. This is actually somewhat important. And the rest of you, wake up!" There were several discontented mutters from the class and a few heads raised. "Anyways, he backslash she will be unfamiliar so please be hospitable, blah blah blah, don't feed the kid to alligators, alright?" He looked around. "I have to go get this genderless thing from the office, so pretend to be civil until I get back or you will all have instant detention." And with that, Lancer walked out.

"Danny, aren't you worried about the new student?" Sam asked him in an unnecessary whisper. "You know, that they might be a you-know-what?"

"… A fangirl?" Danny asked, confused. Having a new student might be cool, a new friend, or at the very least, someone who didn't know he was a loser. Yet.

"Danny!" Sam hissed. "A ghost!"

"Dude, Sam does have a point." Tucker said, leaning in. "Every new person to our town since you opened the portal has been a ghost."

"Guys, chill. This one might not be. Maybe someone just moved here for the uhm…" Danny had to think for a moment. "… fresh air?" His friends looked at him skeptically. "Look, this new kid is going to have to walk right near me, right? If my ghost sense goes off, I'll know." Just then, Mr. Lancer returned, two girls behind him.

"Class, these are your two new classmates. Apparently, the secretary didn't notice one of them." Mr. Lancer jerked a thumb at them. "So, to make this as awkward as possible, I'm going to make them introduce themselves, starting with the one that our school didn't know existed."

"Uhm… Hi?" The girl looked about average height, with dark skin and brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair, looking fairly average. She wore a white and purple striped shirt and a denim skirt that came to her knees, and black wire glasses that sat on her nose crookedly. "I'm, uhm, Illusen. Illusen Mantey." She looked down at her black high tops, nudging the toes together nervously. "Erm, nice to meet you all."

"This one's socially deficient." Mr. Lancer said, patting her head. "There's an empty seat in front of Fenton, you can sit there. He's the boy in the stupid t-shirt." She nodded, and hurried to her seat, tripping slightly over Dash's outstretched leg.

"Oops." Dash said. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." Kwan slapped him a high five, and they both laughed as Illusen took her seat.

"Hi." Danny whispered. "Don't mind Dash. He's taken on too many footballs to the head to really count as worth caring about." The girl smiled softly, and he held out his hand. "I'm Danny. Danny Fenton."

"Uhm, thanks." Illusen muttered, blushing softly as she took his hand. "I'm Illusen. I'm, uhm, kinda shy." Danny took a good look at her, but she didn't make his ghost sense go off. A human being. How refreshing.

"And now class." Mr. Lancer said, redirecting Danny's attention. "The one you actually wanted to meet." He turned to the girl. "Go ahead, seduce the class. Its not like they pay attention to begin with." The girl stepped forward, looking ready to dazzle.

"Hi." she chirped. "I'm Marie Suzanna Eris Turquoise, and I'm sure we're all going to be great friends." She, in turn, had long blonde hair all the way down her back, flawless fair skin and large, bright cerulean eyes. She wore a bright crop top the same emerald as her manicured nails, and tight black pants with bubblegum pink heels. "I'm very well rounded, socially active, and I like kittens and barrel racing and gymnastics and feeding the homeless and myself." She giggled, and Danny's eyes were drawn to her sparkly belly button piercing.

"Very nice. I'm sure you'll all learn to worship her or something of the sort." Lancer muttered. "You can go sit with your own kind… Cheerleaders are on the left." Flashing him a dazzling smile, she sat at her new seat.

"Call me Mary Sue." she whispered to Paulina, who seemed to have no concerns about the girl who might unseat her. "I'm sure this will be great."

"Hey, Danny." Sam said, waving her hand in front of his face. "Helloooo. Earth to Clueless One. Ignore the succubus." Danny blinked hard, and noticed Sam's hand. "Geez Danny, you'd think you'd never seen a popular girl before."

"Not like her." Danny muttered, missing Sam blanch. "Oh, anyways, why was your hand waving?"

"You were drooling." she said, sounding slightly disgusted. "And Lancer assigned you as Illusen's tour guide."

"I, uhm, hope that's not a problem." Illusen said quietly. "I don't want to bother you on the first day of school." Danny shook his head.

"No, its fine." he said. "Just watch out for Tuck. He's a bit forward at times."

"Hey, stop making me sound bad." Tucker interjected, leaning in his chair. "I'm actually very helpful. I'm great with electronics… And the ladies."

"And you think you need our help to look bad." Sam said, rolling her eyes. Illusen giggled softly as Tucker took off his hat and over-dramatically bowed, falling out of his seat as he did.

"You guys seem like great friends." Illusen said quietly as Tucker picked himself up. "I'm glad my uncle was right."

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**A little nervous about how the chapter turned out and about the length, but it can't hurt to share. If you can, please give me your comments. Thank you in advance!**

**~ Natalie**


	2. In which there are many boxes

**And now, even more characters will be introduced! Its all so very very exciting, really. I'm having a blast writing this, and that you for all my watchers, fans and that one super nice reviewer. Hope you guys like it.**

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When the bell rang, Danny got up quickly, ready to move on to a class that didn't involve Lancer, and almost forgot that he was supposed to be guiding Illusen. His reminder came when she dropped her necklace, squeaking.

"Oh no!" she whispered, picking it up quickly and turning it over in her fingers. Danny leaned over, looking at the necklace. "I knew I should have gotten it fixed before we left…"

"Everything okay?" Danny asked as the rest of the class filed out.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Illusen said. "Its just that the clasp is broken and its always falling off and I'm really afraid I'll lose it…" Danny took the necklace from her, studying it. It was a pretty simple one, just a fine silver chain with a milky green gem hanging from it.

"Here, maybe I can fix it." he said, looking at the clasp. It looked like the arm broken off, so he compromised, pulling one of the links behind it open with his fingernail and slipped the ring inside before pinching it closed. "I hope that works." he said, passing it back to her. She took it gratefully, slipping it over her head.

"Thank you." she whispered. "It's a present from my dad… I always break it when I move." She looked around. "The class is gone…"

"Oh, right, next class!" said Danny, standing up. "I have a schedule…" He knocked a set of papers off his desk, which were quickly caught by Sam, who had reappeared. "Oh, hey Sam. I didn't see you there."

"I didn't see you either. That's why I doubled back." Sam said, handing his papers. "I don't want you to for get about class and Illy."

"Illy…" Illusen echoed. "I like that." She smiled at Sam, who smiled back before turning to Danny.

"Come on, both of you. I don't wanna sit through math alone."

After a relatively safe first day - no in-school ghost attacks, no crazed students, nowhere near the zoo - Danny felt almost suspicious as Jazz picked him up.

"And how was your first day returned to the hall of building blocks of education?" Jazz asked him, pulling away from the curb as Danny buckled up. "I'm sure it was exciting."

"Jazz," Danny said, leaning back in his seat. "It was school. I'm just glad the Lunch Lady didn't crash our lunch."

"Danny, you know you have pasta in your hair, right?" Jazz asked. Danny sighed heavily and brushed his hair as hard as he could, dislodging even more pasta. "Danny, you didn't get beat up did you? You know, my psychology professor says that-"

"Jazz, it was the Box Ghost, now chill with the psych professor talk." Danny muttered, trying to find all of the pasta. "I don't know how he manages to escape and be so annoying…"

"Uhm… I think I know how he got out this morning." Jazz said, running a red light while distracted. "We're having a glitch with the Portal… Dad's about to explode."

"What's wrong with the Portal?" Danny asked, getting a bad feeling as Jazz, staring intensely at the road, almost swerved off of it.

"Well… it won't close." Jazz said, making Danny groan and sick into his seat. "But nothing really dangerous has come out yet. Just the Crate Creep and the Friendly Fiend… and some snakes. And in other news, it started snowing in Elmertown!"

"Oh boy." Danny said, sighing heavily. "I can already hear the screams." He slumped back in his seat, then sat up straight. "Jazz, why don't I hear screams?"

"Mom has it under control." she said, getting up on the curb and then veering onto the grass, almost destroying a mail drop box before Danny turned it intangible. "Thanks little bro."

"Jazz, get back on the road." Danny hissed through gritted teeth. "And pay attention to driving or someone might notice next time." Jazz was a horrible driver when she distracted, even though she had a spectacularly clean record. Danny attributed that partially to himself. "Is Mom… taking care of all the ghosts?"

"Well, Dad almost caught the Crate Creep this morning, but he got away. I haven't seen him since though." Danny smirked a little, feeling accomplished. Even with the massive failure that day had been, he wouldn't have to worry about being annoyed to death by the Box Ghost. "Here, you can help if you want." Jazz said, pulling into their driveway. "I have the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick. You can swing it at Dad if he gets out of hand."

"No thanks Jazz. I'll be in my room sleeping." Opening his door, Danny noticed something new at the house next to them; a moving truck. "Hey Jazz, is someone moving in next door?"

"Oh, yeah, someone bought the entire place. They've been moving in all day. I've only seen two people so far." She closed the door and locked the car, walking to the front door. "Danny, you coming?"

"No, I think I'll greet the new neighbors." Danny said, moving towards the house. A tall black man was carrying two boxes in the door, and Danny waited by the open back of the truck until he came back. "Hi, I'm Danny Fenton. I live next door. You need any help getting everything inside?" The man moved close, then held out his hand while Danny felt plenty warm. Not a ghost.

"Sure I could use a hand. You can call me Recut. I'm sure you'll see my niece in a minute. Just grab a box and go on inside to stack anywhere." Danny nodded and picked up the nearest box, which was surprisingly light, taking it inside and marveling at the stacks of boxes all around. They lined the walls and went all the way to the ceiling, yet looked in no danger of falling. He looked around, then put his box down near one of the other columns before heading back outside, passing Recut.

"You guys, uhm, have a lot of stuff." Danny said, trying to make conversation. Buying an entire apartment building wasn't cheap, and there was so much stuff. He wanted to know what Recut did. "So, why did you choose to move to nowhere?"

"Ah, I wanted some fresh air for my niece. Plus, we heard there were ghost researchers in the town." Recut laughed a little, and Danny laughed awkwardly too. More ghost hunters made him nervous. "Me and Lou, we're into ghosts. They're pretty fascinating," He leaned in close to Danny. "don't you think?"

"Uncle!" A familiar voice called as footsteps approached quickly. "Stop scaring someone we just met!" Illusen appeared, wearing ragged jeans and a black tank top as she tied her hair back with a green bandana. "Sorry about him, he's just a bit overly friendly, we're kinda new, but we're harmless I-" She stopped, seeing Danny, and blushed red. "Uhm, hi Danny." She turned, punching her uncle rather solidly. "Don't scare people."

"Hey, hey, you two have already met, I don't think I can severely alter his opinion of you." Recut said, backing away, but still watching Danny. "How do you know Lou anyways?"

"Uncle, don't call me that." Illusen said. "It sounds like a boy's name. Danny was the guy who didn't trip me at school today. Uhm, thanks for that Danny."

"No problem." Danny replied, hearing a loud bang that sounded like it came from his basement. He chose to ignore it. "I tend to avoid tripping new people." Illusen smiled softly, then grabbed a box from the stack. Danny did the same. "So, what do you think of our exciting town?"

"Its great." she said, walking into the house. "I love ghosts. Its kinda a dorky past time, but I'm just a big fan. Uhm, I h-heard your name was Fenton earlier." Danny winced. "You're not part of the Fenton inventors, are you?"

"Around here, they call it the Fenton ghost-hunting freaks." Danny said, putting down his box. "But basically, yeah." Illusen dropped her box, which made a surprisingly loud bang, and then, as if she had just remembered something, began digging through the box.

"Wow, that's so cool." she said, pulling out several electronics until she brought out a small remote, that was giving off a high pitched squeak. "Sorry, I need to turn this off." She hit it against wall until the back fell off, then pulled out two squarish batteries and pocketed them. "Sorry."

"No, its cool…" Danny said. The remote had a clear case with several blue, violet and copper wires running through it, and it looked insanely complex. "What does that even do?"

"Uh, it uhm… turns on my… laptop?" She fidgeted a little before taking the remote in two hands and dashing up the stairs. "Excuse me!" Danny looked after her for a moment, confused, then went back outside to get another box.

"My Illusen's a bit shy, if you haven't noticed." Danny jumped a little as Recut appeared behind him, holding three boxes. "She doesn't make friends very easily, but she seems to have taken a shine to you." Danny picked up a box. "Don't make her miserable. We do live next door."

"Uhm, no worries." Danny said, laughing nervously again. "Uhm, Illy seems pretty nice… I think we'll be friends. She's, uhm, cool." A loud bang, and Danny looked over his shoulder to see his father running out.

"Danny my boy! We closed the portal!" Jack Fenton ran over, nearly crushing Danny in a hug. "What are you doing- Hey, new people!" He dropped Danny and stuck out his hand. "Jack Fenton, ghost hunter. We live next door."

"Recut Holden." he said, shaking Jack's hand. "We just moved in this morning. Your son Danny's been helping me unload some of our boxes. We have quite a few."

"A chip off the old block eh?" Jack said, clapping Danny on the back. "Well, even if you are being friendly son, why don't you head on home and look at what your mother and I caught!" He leaned down. "Actually, your mother caught it." he whispered. "But I got a cookie for not interrupting."

Danny turned and headed to his house as his father began moving boxes, and when he opened the front door, something hit him.

"Ow!" he said rubbing his head and then ducking as the Booomerang circled back. "Who let that thing out?"

"Danny, you're home!" his mother said, catching the Booomerang and pushing the hood of her ghost fighting outfit back. "I'm so glad you got here after we closed the Portal back. We've been dealing with some nasty ghosts." She hugged him, then shoved the Booomerang into a drawer. "Oh, but I'm sure you want to see what we caught. Erm, maybe you'll know what it is." And with that, she began dragging him towards the basement. "I don't think this particular ghost has ever bothered us before…"

As she opened the basement door, Danny felt a blast of cold air, and shivered slightly as his mother put her facemask back on.

"Mom, the Friendly Fiend isn't letting go!" Jazz yelled up, and Danny groaned. Klemper was not on the lists of ghosts he wouldn't mind seeing at the moment. "Really, what should I do?"

"Be my friend?" Klemper asked, smiling crookedly at Jazz as she tried to wretch her wrist free of his meaty hand. A snow blizzard was cycling around, and Danny rubbed his forehead to ward off an impending headache.

"We've tried most conventional methods, but we can't hit him without chancing hitting your sister." Mrs. Fenton explained, looking displeased. "And he's just so darn cold…" She shivered, rubbing her arms. At that same moment, Klemper spotted Danny and released Jazz's arm, floating to tackle him. Luckily, his mother reacted before either of them could and grabbed some manner of net, throwing it over the friendly ghost. "Ha, you dirty ghost! I'll send you back where you belong!" And with slightly surprising strength, his mother hefted the ghost through the now open Portal. As the doors closed behind him, she turned to her two slightly shocked children, brushing imaginary dirt off of her hands. "Well then, who wants cookies?"

"Uhm… Sounds like a great idea Mom." Jazz said weakly, rubbing her arms where Klemper had held her. "Don't you think Danny?" Danny just nodded, and his mother beamed.

"Alright then kids, let's head on up to the kitchen!" Maddie Fenton said excitedly, beginning up the stairs herself. "I've been thinking about peanut butter kiss cookies, what do you think?" Jazz answered, while Danny was busy thinking.

The Ghost Portal never malfunctioned; it was always so outside force. The last time ghosts had been spewing out it was his father's fault, but he doubted that was the case this time. His mom would have noticed. As he climbed the stairs, he tried to think of a reason, and failed utterly.

"Oh look Danny," his mother said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We have new neighbors. Isn't that great? Maybe they like ghosts." Danny looked, and sure enough, Recut was waving at his mother from his front door. "Have you met him?"

"Uhm, yeah." Danny said, waving back. "His niece is new at school. She seems nice."

"A girl?" his mother questioned, pouting slightly. "I thought you and Sam were dating."

"No, Mom, its not like that Illy's just a friend." Danny said, waving his arms and backpedaling furiously. "And so is Sam! Just… friends." His mother gave him a look that plainly said that she didn't believe him. "Erm… Dad is making friends?"

"Hmm… I suppose I should discourage your father before he does anything too detrimental to the new neighbors… You kids stay here, alright? I'm sure you have plenty of exciting homework to do." His mother left quickly, and Danny sighed, leaning again the kitchen wall. Summer break needed to come back.

In her rather dark bedroom, Sam Manson leaned against her headboard, drawing her knees to her chest. Something about Illusen seemed ridiculously familiar, but she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was like she was an old friend or some movie star who was only slightly disguised. She shook it off, thinking of the day.

Danny had seemed more distracted than usual, and the fact that he had gotten into a ghost fight before school did not sit well with her. The fight with Freakshow had been too recent, not even two months, and even with Danny destroying the Reality Gauntlet, she was afraid that something could go wrong. It had been almost comical how Danny had defeated Freakshow, just like Aladdin had Jafar.

"Am I just getting paranoid?" she asked herself softly, stretching her legs out and getting off of her bed. "I probably am… Especially since I talk to myself now." She pulled her boots back on and tried to sneak out of her room quietly and creep to the greenhouse, hoping that her plants would soothe what were surely needless worries.

Illusen pushed her hair back, sighing as she looked at the boxes that surrounded her. Getting all of the boxes in their new house had taken a while, but she felt it was worth it to be where she was. Pulling on a nearby box, she grabbed one of the razor blades that she had been storing in her pocket to cut open boxes and smoothly sliced the tape, peeling the flaps back and dragging out a pillow and a fuzzy blanket just as her uncle walked in.

"So Lou, what do you think?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe. "Its big and empty and dusty… But we have great neighbors." They both grinned. "So, you think you can learn to love it here?" Illusen shook the blanket out. "Middle of nowhere Amity Park?"

"You know I love everywhere we end up Uncle." Illusen said, laying the blanket down and bending over to fold it in half carefully. "But I know I'll love it here… I can just feel it."

"Making friends already? I saw Danny." Illusen straightened up quickly, smiling. "You excited to meet him?"

"Oh, you can't even imagine." Illusen said, shaking her hair softly out of her eyes. "Danny talked to me Uncle, and he seemed so friendly… And I met Sam, and Tucker too," Her uncle's eyes brightened at this ever so slightly. "and Uncle, you wouldn't believe it. I think they like me. First day here, and I already have three friends. And they're so…" She gestured with her hands widely, and her uncle continued to grin. "Oh, but what if later they don't like me? What if it's… New kid pity?"

"Lou, don't worry." Recut said, stepping away from the doorframe and pulling her into a hug. "I'm sure they'll love you. Why wouldn't they?"

"I guess you're right." Illusen said, hugging him back. "Its just…" She smiled, then looked down. "Do you think Dad would approve?" Recut laughed in an earnest, booming way.

"Well, I don't know about this Tucker fellow, but I completely believe your father would approve of Danny next door." he said, letting his niece go. "But you need sleep now. You have school tomorrow and then you have to come home and unpack and wait for your bed to arrive… You sure you don't mind sleeping on the floor?"

"Positive Uncle." Illusen replied. "Its more fun anyways, dreaming of what its going to be like… And the magic of youth will keep me strong!" Chuckling slightly, her uncle walked out, closing the door behind him. "Magic of youth never fails…"

She reached into the box that she had just taken the blanket out of and removed two more things; a battered black notebook and a picture frame. Holding them gently, Illusen sat down and put the book in her lap, looking at the picture.

"Hi Mom and Dad." she said softly. "Just moved to Amity Park. The people are great, don't worry, and school is nice. Uncle and I are doing well. And, uhm… I love you." Telling that to an old faded picture always made her feel silly, but she said it to her parents' wedding picture every night, without fail.

She tucked the picture into her pillow and stretched to another nearby box marked DECORATIONS, opening it swiftly. Inside were several tightly rolled posters and a three pack of tape dispensers, and with a smile, Illusen made her new room just like home.

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**And herein lies the chapter. Please tell me what you think, what you like, what you don't like, what I did wrong and any mad theories you happen to have. All will be recieved with happiness. And remember, the more often I get positive reviews, the more likely I am to fall off the couch with joy.**

**~ Natalie**


	3. In which there is awkwardness

**Hey guys! Glad to see you here, and I hope you all like it. This chapter maybe be a bit odd, but bear with me. And, as always, thank you for taking the time to read.**

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That night, Danny Fenton slept quite soundly, not thinking of ghosts or school, and would have continued in that manner well into the morning if his alarm hadn't rudely awakened him, reminding him of the cold horror of school. He turned it off distractedly, rubbing his hand through his hair and trying to remember what he had been dreaming about. He had the feeling that he would remember it later, but dismissed the idea quickly as he headed to his bathroom for a shower.

Walking in, Danny stripped of his clothes and turned on the hot water, letting it run for a minute before getting in. He liked his water hot, something that no one else in his family seemed to display. Once, he had left the shower running while looking for a towel and Jazz tried to sneak in. He had heard her screech clear across the house. Needless to say, she never tried to steal his shower again.

When Danny decided the water was hot enough, he got in, pulling the curtain shut and spending just a few seconds just thinking. The water swirled around his feet as steam rose and filled the bathroom, fogging over almost too quickly. It was a normal scene, for a normal family, doing-

A loud crash shook the floor as Danny was washing his hair, and he opened his eyes, groaning. He didn't bother getting out of the shower, but instead continued rinsing the shampoo out.

"Its okay!" his dad's voice echoed, coming from the stairs. "Nothing broke!" Danny turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, drying off quickly and then wrapped the towel around his waist, heading back to his room. Just a normal day.

Once he was dressed in his usual attire, Danny headed down the stairs hoping that nothing was on fire. Luckily for him, nothing was.

"Well hello there Danny." his mother said sweetly, the hood of her jumpsuit back - another good sign - as she flipped a pancake. "Are you hungry? I hope the noise earlier didn't bother you. Your father isn't doing so well in the test runs of the Specter Detector… And he didn't pay attention to the levels of distilled ectoranium…" Danny nodded weakly, not like the sound of his father's latest invention. "Do you want one pancake or two?"

"Uhm, one." Danny said, his eye on the door to the basement. "Is there any orange juice left?" He was the only one who actually drank orange juice. However, his mother seemed to have failed to hear him, so Danny took matters into his own hands.

He walked to the fridge and opened the door, spotting the orange juice quickly and taking the carton out, shaking it. He uncapped his drink and began drinking directly from the cartoon.

"Oh Danny, I wish you wouldn't do that." his mother said, pointing her spatula at him. "Its not very hygienic."

"Mom, I'm the only one who drinks orange juice." Danny said. "Worst case, I catch my own germs. No problem"

"I don't know." Maddie said, looking upwards. "Those ghost eating bacteria that I was developing escaped recently… I'm pretty sure it feeds on sugar solutions." Danny swallowed hard, hoping that his ghost trauma quota was filled for the day. "Ask your sister if she knows where they are, won't you Danny?"

"I just remembered that I… have to go to school." Danny said lamely, walking out of the front door quickly.

"But what about your pancake?" his mother asked after him. Danny was already well out of the door, having forgotten his backpack and shoes. This fact was not lost on him, and he quickly circled around the house, preparing to go ghost and stealthily grab the things he needed from his room.

"Hi Danny!" Danny spun around quickly to see Illusen all too surprisingly standing behind him. "Hey, uhm, I just kinda noticed you were outside, and uhm, wondered if you were walking t- uh, where are your shoes?"

"I… forgot them." Danny said, looking at her. He could have sworn that she hadn't been there a second before, and the neighbors opened front door coupled with Illusen's slightly rapid breathing seemed to back up his theory. "In my house. I'm going to go get them… Through the back door." Even to himself his cover up sounded silly. Illusen, however, seemed willing to believe him.

"Oh, okay." she said, hugging a notebook to her chest. "I'll just wait here, okay? Unless that's creepy." She looked down suddenly, seeming to think. "I'm not trying to be creepy, I'm just a bit… nervous. I don't want to…" She bit her lip. "I'm going to go home now. If you want to walk with school with me, I'll be in the hallway. If not, I won't stalk you bye." And with that, she ran back into her house, closing the door quickly, leaving Danny standing at the side of his house.

"Well that was weird." he muttered, looking at his wall and then back at her door before turning invisible and quietly retrieving his things from his room.

He got his shoes first, pulling them on quickly as he chanced a moment of being tangible, then floated around as best he could without going ghost, grabbing stray papers and textbooks.

Illusen, on the other hand, was leaning again her stair rail, notebook clutched to her chest as it heaved.

"Stupid stupid stupid." she muttered, shaking her head. "You don't just sneak up behind people that scares then…"She exhaled heavily. "Oh Danny." she said in an unrealistic falsetto. "I just so happened to notice you walked out of your house, not that I'm being a terrifying stalker, just being cool. And I want to walk to school with you for like, no reason…" Her voice returned slowly to normal. "Ugh, why do I sound like such a creep?"

"Berating yourself again Lou?" her uncle asked, coming down the stairs quickly. "I can hear you clear upstairs."

"I just want to be friends." Illusen said, sighing. "And I don't want to seem crazy or distant or like I hate him but I keep coming off as some kind of deranged stalker or something and I don't think I'm doing it right…" She pushed her glasses up before burying her head in her arms. "Oh, I just know I'm going to ruin this…"

"As much as you like to think, you're not some harbinger of doom Lou." Recut said, stretching beside her. "I don't think you really have the power to ruin anything. Just be yourself." She looked up at him, glancing through squinted eyes.

"Uncle, I can't be myself. I'm a teenaged girl. There is no myself. Only a crazy, irrational lack of self esteem and complete and utter randomness. It doesn't work."

"Then just be all of that, if you so want." Illusen looked at him, sighing. "I'm being serious, Miss Crazy Niece. You forget, they're teenagers too. Besides, I can't be constantly bolstering your self esteem." He elbowed her gently. "You gotta go out there and get 'em tiger."

"Uuuuncle." Illusen pushed him back. "You cannot call me tiger. That's for boys and stuff." She thumbed her notebook, and stood up. "But… thanks. I'll try."

"Just think, what would I do?" her uncle added. Grinning broadly, he pretended not to notice Illusen attempting to tackle him. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Yeah yeah." she said, walking out the door. "Excuse me while I look like I'm a creep."

"I'm sure he doesn't mind." Recut said, knowing she couldn't hear him. "And Lou, you're not a creep. Not even close."

Danny made sure to very carefully phase through the floors and land just in front of the backdoor, creeping out. Luckily for him, his parents didn't notice and no alarms sounded. He walked outside, shoed and holding his backpack, and looked to see Illusen waiting on the sidewalk. She smiled and waved. He waved back, and walked forward.

"Hey, sorry if I was weird a second ago." she said, still holding her notebook tightly. "So, uhm, you wanna walk to school?"

"Yeah, sure." Danny said, relaxing slightly. Maybe today would be normal. No more explosions, no ghost, no flesh eating bacteria… "This morning was weird…"

"Was it?" Illusen asked quietly, looking interested. "Uhm, how so?" Danny stalled mentally. He didn't want to freak the new girl out, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he could trust her yet. They had known each other for barely a day, and she was already walking with him to school. It seemed a little creepy, almost planned.

At the same time, she seemed really earnest. She was a total stranger to the town, and a ghost freak at that. She didn't have much chance at being popular, and she had probably picked up on that fact. Not to mention, she did live just next door. She was probably just trying too hard to be his friend in hopes that she wouldn't be completely alone. And she seemed safe enough. Maybe she could even help with some of his ghost woes. Maybe.

"Oh, nothing major. My dad blew something up in the lab downstairs." Danny said. "His first ghostly accident of the week."

"Oh yeah, Grandpa's just like that." Illusen said as they stopped at a crosswalk. "My grandpa, I mean. He's really… Not the safest. He's pretty smart though." She blushed. "Not that your dad isn't!" she said, looking flustered as the walking man lit up. "Ah, I'm not making sense again… Uhm, was anyone hurt?"

Danny wasn't entirely sure what to think of Illusen. She had such an odd way of talking, constantly overcorrecting herself, like saying the wrong thing would make him explode. He chalked it up to her just being nervous.

"No one was hurt. That was the first thing Dad made a point to mention." Illusen nodded, relaxing slightly. "Oh yeah, your uncle mentioned you guys were ghost researchers." Illusen nodded, then smiled.

"Oh, yes." she said, her eyes sparkling. "We're entirely humane in our ghost research, and we've been studying ectoplasmic variations for years. Uncle is this close to creating a synthetic ectoplasm, working with labs all around the country, and we've just recently figured out how to create co-habitable environments for humans and ghosts…" She looked incredibly relaxed now, and Danny found himself being drawn in. "We can painlessly capture ghosts, and I know first aid, plus we've got this excellent ghost analyzer… Nothing compared to what your parents build, of course." She blushed, and pulled her backpack higher on her shoulder. "Sorry if I'm talking too much."

"No, no, that sounds great." Danny said, feeling better. She made it sound like she was a safe ghost hunter, or even just a researcher. "Amity Park is full of ghosts, so I'm sure you'll have plenty of… research subjects." _Just not me_ he thought to himself, looking as Illusen again. She didn't look especially vicious, but her Uncle was definitely big enough to take him down. He could avoid them though. "Hey, why did you transfer here anyways?" he asked as they approached the school.

"Same reason we always move." Illusen said, pushing her hair back. "Ghosts. The basis of my life…" She smiled sadly and looked at the ground. "You understand, don't you Danny? How weird it is… Being in a family obsessed with ghosts. Sometimes they just seem like humans aren't quite as important, you know?"

"Yeah…" Danny looked at her sideways, and Illusen shook her head, hard. "Hey, why do you know all about my family and I've never heard of yours?"

"Psh." Illusen actually laughed. "Danny, your parents make weapons. They save people in big, well publicized battles. You've been splashed all over the news."

"Really?" Danny asked too sharply, thinking back to the Reality Gauntlet. It had erased everyone's memories… Hadn't it? "When?"

"Uh, I d-don't remember." Illusen said, pushing up her glasses as they approached the school. "I was t-trying to say that your family is… Action-packed. Mine is purely s-s-science. Scientists don't make the news, especially not by name." She looked at the pavement, then at the school doors. "Uhm, thanks for walking with me Danny. And… thanks for helping me up yesterday. I'm… not the best at making friends. So… if I seem weird or stupid, just tell me, and I'll stop."

"Uhm, don't worry about it." Danny said, scratching the back of his head. "If you want to be our friend, you're kinda basically in." Illusen looked up, eyes bright, and for a second, the sun made them look almost violet. "So yeah…"

"Thanks." she whispered, ducking her head slightly. "I, uhm, mean it." And then, shouldering her bag again, she twisted back beneath a tree. Danny was confused as Sam came up, using him as a armrest.

"Hey Danny." she said, leaning on him. "You look quite cereal free today. What brought on the sudden change?"

"Lack of cereal attack." he replied. "You're in the sun." Sam shrugged and moved her arm.

"I'm building up an immunity." she said, looking at the school. "Hey, why are you just standing around out here? It looks weird."

"I was talking…" Danny turned to point at Illusen, but surprisingly, she had already walked away. "Well, I was talking to Illy…"

"Uh Danny," Sam said, looking around. "She's not here."

"She was." Danny said, feeling slightly foolish, and at the same time wondering where she had disappeared to. That girl seemed to habit of moving quickly when he wasn't looking. "Anyways, have you seen Tucker? He's normally here by now."

"Ask and you shall receive." Tucker said, slapping Danny on the back. "I just got a update on your website. They changed the color theme." He proudly pulled out his PDA. "Black and green. Isn't that cool?" Danny leaned over and Sam sighed.

"You boys are so egotistical." she said, folding her arms and tapping her finger.

"Sam, you're just jealous that no one made a website for you." Danny said. "Besides, why shouldn't Danny Phantom get a little more positive spotlight? Someone obviously appreciates his heroic deeds." Danny smiled to himself, feeling good. Recognition every once in a while was nice.

"Or they're trying to find out who he is." Sam said with a huff. Didn't Danny see that this was dangerous? What if someone did see him change back, or even flying home. It felt too much like a trap to her. "And I'm not jealous." she added. She didn't need a fansite to boost her ego, and she knew it.

The bell chose then to ring, and they all shuffled inside to a unexciting homeroom. Lancer looked bored out of his skull, and Paulina was nowhere to be found. The rest of the class was already sleeping, in stereotypical fashion, except for Dash and Kwan, who were muttering to each other in a miniature huddle. Danny, Sam and Tucker all assumed their normal seats and waited for the final bell to usher in the stragglers.

"Oh my gosh." Paulina giggled, walking through the doorway with Mary Sue's hand in her own. "I had no idea you could do that with baking soda." They leaned in and giggled together, heads almost touching. "I think we're going to be great friends!"

"I know we will." Mary Sue said, smiling a little too broadly. "If you think that was cool, wait until you hear about all the things avocadoes can do." Together, they sat down not in chairs, but in beanbags that had not been there yesterday. Danny just assumed that a member of the Paulina fan club left them there as a offering, and almost regretted not doing it himself. It didn't hurt that Mary Sue was pretty too…

Lost in his thoughts, Danny almost didn't notice the bell ring, and would have missed it completely if Sam hadn't stabbed him with a pencil.

"Ouch Sam." he said, straightening up. He hadn't noticed that he was leaning over. "What was that for?"

"You were being drawn in by their collective powers." Sam said, putting her pencil away. "You shouldn't look directly at more than one popular girl at a time. Their vapid makeup heads can cause blindness. And the bell rang, so raise your hand when Lancer calls your name." He then noticed that during the time he had zoned out, Illusen had appeared in the seat beside him and was smoothing out her skirt. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" And with that, Sam leaned over to rather viciously stab Tucker.

"Ow! What was that for?"

The morning was painfully tedious, with Geometry being the most interesting class only because the teacher was incapable of drawing a three-sided triangle. Danny actually spent most of his time staring out of various windows and wondering how the Ghost Portal had opened itself. By lunch, he had narrowed the possibilities down to ninjas, evils ghosts, or evil space ghost ninjas, none of which seemed especially plausible to him. However, he was willing to put his thoughts aside for food.

On his way to the cafeteria, he noticed that the hallway seemed to have more enclaves and hiding places than normal. Nathan was hiding in one, Star was texting behind a plant, and Illusen was squished behind a water fountain, writing in the notebook she had been carrying around all day. Her back was facing him and Danny walked closer, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was inside. All he managed to see was rows of tiny handwriting before Illusen snapped the book shut and very quickly stood up, banging her knee on the water fountain.

"Hi Danny." she said, hiding the notebook behind her back. "Uhm, are you on your way to lunch? It is lunch time, right?"

"Yeah, its lunchtime." he said, looking back down the hall. Sam and Tucker were probably already at the table. "Hey, are you going to eat with us today? You kinda vanished yesterday." She had, slipping out of sight while Danny was talking to Tucker. She actually seemed to do that a lot, just dash off or on while no one was looking. "I mean, if you want to. You don't have to sit with us."

"No, it's fine great." Illusen said, quickly rubbing her knee. "I mean, I would love to eat with you guys, Thanks. That would be… cool." She smiled and shoved her notebook rather violently into her book bag. "Uhm, are you going now?"

"Yeah." Danny said, walking forward. "Here, you can follow me. Its hard to miss our table though… Since its just me Sam and Tucker." She smiled, looked down and seemed to just be watching his feet. "Uhm, any reason you were hiding?" Illusen looked up, grinning opened mouth and the slowly closed it, her face returning to normal.

"Absolutely no reason." she said, following Danny as they walked into the cafeteria. "I was just writing. And, I uhm, like water." Danny accepted her reason without protest and she sat down across from him. "Hi guys."

"Hi!" Tucker said, waving cheerfully with strips of bacon wrapped around his fingers. "Did you bring food? If not, I have extra bacon." Sam glared at him and put up her umbrella, presumably shielding herself from the bacon.

"No thanks, I brought my own." Illusen said, smiling gently as she reached into her bag and pulled out a industrial metal lunchbox that she put down with a soft clank. "Though I do like your, erm, creative use of bacon." Tucker gave her a bacon-y thumbs up and Illusen ducked her head slightly, pulling out a juice box and a sandwich. "Do you have to do anything to make it curl like that?"

"It cooks that way." Tucker said confidently, eating the bacon off of his pinky. "Its very cool." Illusen smiled and bit into her sandwich, which Danny thought looked like just two pieces of bread. "You sure you don't want any?"

"I don't really like bacon." Illusen said softly. "But thank you anyways." Danny noticed how oddly polite her language was, and that she always seemed to be half smiling, looking down. He also noticed that he was noticing her quite a bit, possibly because he hadn't had anyone new to notice in a few years. But there was almost something more than that, something that made Danny feel almost drawn to her.

"Meat is murder." Sam said, lowering her umbrella just enough to glower at Tucker.

"Delicious, well cooked murder." Tucker replied, crunching loudly on the bacon. "Lighten up. Its lunch time. Don't you have grass to eat?" Glaring, Sam pulled out her grass and tofu sandwich and bit into it about as viciously as one can bite into something with the consistency of fresh mud.

The almost civil lunchroom chatter continued and slowly it was revealed that Illusen was a vegetarian and that her steel lunch box used to be her father's, that she didn't have any interest in driving and that she still tied her sneakers using bunny ears. The whole time, she was slowly eating her sandwich and drinking out of her juice box, and when lunch was over, Illusen was the first one gone.

"She sure does run fast." Sam mentioned, pushing her chair under the table. "Did you see her Danny? She kept looking at you every minute and a half, and then me, even when Tucker was talking. Isn't that weird?" Danny did think it was slightly weird.

"You timed her?" Tucker asked, getting up as well. "Don't you think that's a little weird?" Danny also thought that was slightly weird. Danny also really wasn't in the mood to pay much attention, especially not to weird things. Weird things almost always came back to ghosts and he did not want to think about ghosts. Every so often, it seemed like fate could read his mind, and he didn't want to tempt it. "No grass attack!"

The day ended on a normal enough note and Danny was getting ready to head home when, Sam and Illusen appeared at the same time. They were talking animatedly, and Sam laughed at something before she turned to Danny, smiling.

"Hey Danny." Sam said, looking happy enough. "I hear that Illy moved into the old apartments next to Fenton Works. Why didn't you mention that you finally have a neighbor?" Actually, he hadn't thought that it was really significant, but Danny shrugged anyways. "Illy and I were just talking about how weird it's going to be now, two ghost hunting families living right next door to each other. I'm sure not a single ghost will get by them."

"Actually, a lot of ghosts might get by." Illusen said, pushing her glasses up. "We haven't hooked anything up yet, and when we do, it'll take awhile to adjust the frequencies so we don't accidentally down all of the Fenton's supplies… Uncle's a bit disappointed that we didn't think of compatibility to begin with." She looked down, clutching the notebook again. "Uhm, Danny, you want to walk home together?"

"Sure." Danny said, hoping no ghosts would attack. That could be awkward. "I was about to leave anyways." Illusen looked up excitedly, and Sam gave Danny one last glance as he walked away. "Hey, you really think they'll be problems with the equipment hooking up?" He wasn't much of a mechanic, but he knew that Illusen liked talking about them, and she made ghost inventions sound safe.

"Oh, no doubt." Illusen said, sighing. "Might even take out a few of your parents higher resonating inventions, mainly traps and stuff. Like, the Specter Deflector should be fine… But warn your parents. I hope we don't down anything big…" Danny was almost excited. If she took out his parents' alarms, he could get in and out a lot easier. "I, uhm… I heard you have… a gateway." She almost whispered, looking at Danny sideways. "That true?"

"You mean the Ghost Portal?" he asked, cautious. He didn't think anyone else knew about it, but when he mentioned, Illusen's eyes lit up. "Yeah, we have it…"

"Omigosh are you for real?!" she asked, almost jumping. "I don't mean to be really creepy but that's like the coolest thing ever do you know that?" She had bright eyes behind her glasses and her cheeks were red. "Have you ever actually seen a ectoranium blast? Or spectral deposits, or a ghost? Like, an unformed ghost? Can you go inside, see them moving around can they see you what is it like?" She was flustered, but seemed so happy. "I-I mean… What's it like?" She looked down, blushing and twisted her fingers together. "I've always wondered what it looks like… The Ghost Zone, wild and morphing." She had a strange grin on her face, almost like she was trying not to smile.

"Uhm… It looks swirly, I guess." Danny said. Her enthusiasm bordered on creepy, but she seemed benign enough. The ones who wanted to kill him normally seemed plenty normal and then grew fangs or something. In fact, she was almost like a ghost fan version of Tucker… "I've never looked for… spectral deposits." Illusen nodded, still staring at her shoes. "Any reason you're so interested?"

"I'm a ghost geek, through and through." Illusen said, her fingers still twisting. "Ghosts are just such amazing creatures… Its so strange what can live on, you know? They're alive, even though by definition they aren't and…" She spread her hands in an arc about her, looking into the distance. "It's a whole other world. I want to see that new world, belong to that new world…" Then she smiled, looking at Danny. "Don't worry though. I don't have ghost envy."

When he got home, those words still echoed in his head, running around with his thoughts. Why would Illusen tell him that she didn't have ghost envy? Had he mentioned it? Did she know something about him? Had Jazz been talking to her? Was he over thinking this? Around and around the questions swirled, until tired, Danny simply succumbed to sleep.

* * *

**Ninjas. Ninjas are always the right answer. Remember that in your darkest hours.**

**Just so you know, I respond to every single review, no matter how small, with a certain amount of happiness. Plus, if you review with questions, you might get super secret awesome hints at to what's up coming. Hope you like it!**

**~ Natalie**


	4. In which fangirl tendency is displayed

**This chapter proudly contains a full serving of vitamin G. Also, stuff may or may not happen. It depends mainly on your definition of happening.**

* * *

Over the next week, school settled into its same old boring routine, and Illusen settled into their group of friends in a very similar fashion. In the group, she was quiet and mild mannered, but with Danny there was always talk of ghosts, with Tucker, circuitry, and with Sam… Well, Danny just assumed they talked about girl stuff. Nonetheless, Illusen had warmed to them, and Danny found that although she was weird, he didn't find her dangerous. Still, he didn't know much about her personally.

"Alright class, time for English projects." Lancer said one otherwise enjoyable Friday morning. "Go ahead and groan" They did. "but you still have to do it. Groups of four, and I want a full five minute presentation on The Scarlet Letter in one month. I'll hand out sheets with details in a moment." Danny sighed, and sat back in his chair. A project already? And he didn't even want to read The Scarlet Letter. It was boring and drawn out and probably a girl's book. "Participation will be a part of your grade."

"Hey Danny, can we do it at your house?" Sam asked, turning around in her chair as Lancer began handing out half slips of paper. "My parents are being a little weird, so my house is out." She thought grudgingly of the dress that she was going to have to wear the next day, in order to appease her mother and get her computer back. How her mother had swiped the desktop while Sam slept just a few feet away was still a mystery. "If we start tonight, they'll be way less to do later."

"Good plan." Danny said, leaning back is his chair. "I don't think my parents are doing anything that would make them mind." Last he had checked, his father was working on a cross between a ghost catching net and a potato chip dispenser. Weird, but probably harmless to any guests. "Just right after school work for everyone?" Illusen, Sam and Tucker nodded, Illusen looking around distractedly. "Cool."

Things went fine that day, no ghosts making the first fully normal week since Danny had opened the ghost portal. Illusen left halfway though the day when the loudspeaker informed her that she was being picked up for a dentist appointment. She promised that she would be at home by the time school let out, and ready to work on the project. At the end of the day, the trio left school in a bright mood, laughing as they headed back to Danny's house.

"Man, that was the biggest wad of gum I have ever seen." Tucker laughed. "What was it, like five pieces? How do you ever get that in your mouth?"

"Or out." Danny said, smiling widely. "Who even eats that much gum anymore? Who eats gum at all?"

"Star does." Tucker said, sighing and going starry-eyed. "She manages to make bubblegum so beautiful…"

"Oh, gag me with a spoon." Sam said, rolling her eyes theatrically. "You boys need to realize that those ridiculous girls aren't beautiful, they're freakish Barbie imitators with no personality or self-esteem except what they can slather on with jailbait make-up. In ten years, they'll be trophy wives or just hollow shells with no future."

"Ah, but today, they're among the loveliest our generation has to offer." Tucker said, smiling wistfully. "And living in the present is so much more fun." Sam took a playful swing at his head and he ducked easily as she cracked a grin. "Come on, loosen up Sam, its all in good fun!"

Sam began to chase Tucker down the sidewalk and Danny ran after them, just trying to keep up. It was a bright, exciting day with gorgeous weather and the three were happily falling into its spell. They continued giddily half-running, half-falling over each other as they tried to get to Danny's house in the sun.

"Hey hey, let's get Illy, okay?" Danny said, still smiling broadly. "She said she would be back by now."

"Alright!" Tucker exclaimed, making a quick turn. "She lives right next to you, right?" Danny nodded, and together they marched up to Illusen's front door.

Sam was elected - nose goes style - to be the one who knocked on the door. She did so loudly, and in just a few moments, a smiling Recut opened the door.

"Well hello there, you must be Lou's friends." he said cheerfully, his voice a little more resonant than Sam was used to. "Danny, know you, guessing you're Tucker," He gave Tucker what seemed like a threatening glare. "and the lady must be Sam. Come on in, come in, Lou's up in her room if you want her." They did come in, and Recut pointed up the stairs. "Right on up and at the end of the second hallway, the door with the big I."

"Thanks!" Danny said, heading up the stairs as Recut seemed to chuckle to himself.

"Ah Lou, might as well give your friends a couple of hints." Recut said to himself as he watched the teens disappear to the next floor. "I already know that you'll end up telling them." A smirk, and he walked to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Besides, I'm sure your parents would trust them…"

Once on the third floor, Danny spotted the aforementioned door with an I and walked towards it, waving to Sam and Tucker behind him. He got to knock this time, and when the door swung open wide, he only saw Illusen for a second before he noticed the walls behind her.

"You know you don't-" Illusen stopped mid-sentence, seeming to have forgotten how to speak. "Oh, hi guys, uhm…" Danny stepped into her room and she stepped back, suddenly fascinated by her shoes. "Heh… See you noticed the posters."

"Holy cow." Tucker said, and Danny agreed. Seemingly every available inch of wall space was covered with poster upon poster, all of them depicting the same thing: Danny Phantom. There were action shots, pictures that seemed to be enlarged photographs, artistic interpretations, even one that featured him carrying a dark-haired girl that looked suspiciously like Sam.

Where there weren't posters, there were figurines, action figures, picture frames, shot glasses, a book, t-shirts, pants, maybe shoes, her bedspread and even a chess set. Various villains were also represented, from the Fright Knight and Vlad to what was definitely Lydia and Freakshow. It was creepy, but in an almost flattering sort of way.

"Heh…" Illusen choked out, a nervous grin plastered to her face. "Uhm, please don't run away screaming?" As Danny looked, everything was painted either black, white or an ectoplasmic shade of green. "Because, uhm, normally the neighbors come out for that and the neighbors are you parents so that could be… bad."

"This…" Tucker whispered. "Is so cool! Did you rob ComicCon or something? This is amazing, where do you get it all?" He reached out and carefully picked up a Danny Phantom bobble head doll, flicking the head. "Seriously, this is awesome." Illusen smiled a bit less nervously, tucking her left foot behind her right ankle.

"Uhm, most of it I get online." she said. "Though some of it is from conventions… And I have some friends." She was blushing furiously and biting her lip when she wasn't talking, and Danny saw her kick something under her bed. "Anyways, uhm why did you guys come over?"

"We were gonna ask you to come work on the project." Sam said, her eyes focused on a poster. "Where exactly did you get that one?"

"Huh?" Illusen turned, looking at the poster right above her bed. "Oh, that one, it was a really limited release. I think they only made twenty or so, in honor of it being two thousand and twooo." She slurred the last word nervously and looked away. "They, uhm, say its one of the heroic rescues, apparently this girl fell off a bridge or something when there was some kind of evil spirit thing in the town, I'm sure you guys know the real story."

"Oh, I bet that was Freakshow!" Tucker said, only to receive a quick punch in the arm from Sam. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Its one of my favorites." Illusen said, looking at Danny. "I kinda makes me believe that there's always a hero nearby, you know?" She smiled softly, a real smile, and her eyes softened behind her glasses as she glanced back at the picture. "Everyone needs a hero…"

"So did you come here for Danny Phantom?" Sam asked, scanning the room quickly.

"Not just for Danny Phantom." Illusen said. "Mainly for the research, Uncle suggested it even before I realized this was his hometown… But it doesn't hurt that I have a chance to see my hero now, you know…" She looked back down, pushing her glasses up. "You must think I'm some crazed fan."

"Yes." Sam said, at the same time Danny and Tucker chorused "No." She turned to glare at Danny as Illusen tentatively looked up.

"Its totally fine." Danny said, ignoring Sam. "I mean, the town is full of fans… And you don't seem crazy. Just enthusiastic."

"Yeah, as long as you don't freak the next time he swoops in to save the school." Sam muttered, still eyeing Illusen suspiciously. "Which will happen. I will be watching you."

"Hey, let's go to my house now." Danny said loudly, not sure if Illusen had heard what Sam said, or if he was just imagining how she was glaring. "Uhm, we can start on the project. And, you know, stuff."

"Yeah, totally." Tucker said, tucking in his pockets in quickly. "Let's go, I'm hungry. Doesn't your dad still have all of that ham?"

"Its technically backup ham, but yeah." Danny said, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling her back. "C'mon Illy, you too, let's go." He got Sam out of the door and Tucker followed close behind.

"You guys go ahead, I just need to find the book." Illusen said, smiling when Danny looked back over his shoulder. "I'll be right over." The trio made their way down the stairs and out of the door before Sam rounded on Danny.

"Danny, I don't like this." she whispered, looking back up at the house. "She is weird. Like dangerously weird. Don't all those posters bother you, like she might find out? Or, I don't know, attack you?" She was frowning and looking directly into Danny's eyes, making him feel more than a little uncomfortable and he had to brush her comments aside with a bit of lingering feel.

"She's not going to attack me." Danny said simply. "Danny Phantom has so many fangirls and they're all totally harmless. Has Paulina ever tried to attack me?"

"Paulina can't think long enough to focus on anything that isn't coated in glitter." Sam said with obvious disdain. "She's a nitwit, and I'm telling you, there is something about Illy… She's weird Danny. And she seems too familiar."

"You noticed it too?" Tucker asked. "You think maybe we saw her at the convention? She seems like the type who would have stood out." Danny nodded, maybe remembering her if he thought back far enough. "Anyways Sam, don't be so paranoid, she's just a fan. Why don't you like her?"

"Its just something about her." Sam insisted. "She's too familiar, its just…" She sighed. "You guys are probably right, its probably nothing." She shook her head, ponytail bouncing. "I do not like fangirls."

"Uncle now they will never like me!" Illusen hissed softly, glaring at her uncle with as much force as she could, pacing around her room. "They think I'm crazy now, I look like some desperately deranged fan why did you let them come up here and see that I'm entirely mad?" Her face was flushed and she was tugging at her hair. "Why couldn't you just let them like me?"

"Lou, trust me, they will still like you." Recut said, standing in the doorway. "I know, I've been there before. And they would have found out eventually, you know they would. They'll be fine with it. Danny Phantom is a celebrity."

"Its different, you don't understand." Illusen insisted, stomping. "You're not him, you aren't my only friends, you aren't an unsure teenager you're an adult! You were a teenager once but its different, you just don't get it!"

"You think I wasn't there once too?" Recut asked. "Because I can assure you, I was."

"I don't care if you were there." Illusen said, staring him straight in the eye. "I'm there now, I have to deal with it now, I have to go over there and act like I'm not crazy, like I'm not some freakish pathetic fangirl" She spat the words out, venom in her voice. "that's going to sit around putting a drain on their lives and stop them from ever doing anything worthwhile stop them-" Recut stopped her, taking her by the shoulders and frowning slightly, looking into her eyes.

"Illusen." he said carefully. "Stop that right now and listen to me. These are your friends. You're going to walk into Danny's house, you're going to complete your project and everything is going to be fine. You are fine. You are not crazy, not pathetic, not delusional, none of that, understand?" She nodded and he let go, rubbing her head. "Now, go out and get 'em Lou. Don't you dare worry, alright?"

"If you promise." she said quietly, looking back over her shoulder, just above her bed. "A real promise, you have to mean it. Promise that this will blow over."

"I swear on my name." Recut said, sounding entirely serious. "All of this will blow over and you will all be friends, all four of you." Illusen wasn't convinced, but she bit her lip and nodded. "They'll like you Lou, because you're likable. It doesn't matter if you're weird, I'm sure they're weird too."

"Well Tucker's sure to be friends with me, no matter what." Illusen said, with a faint grin, picking up her copy of The Scarlet Letter. "Just… wish me luck, okay?" She tapped the facedown picture frame and walked toward the door, Recut sidestepping her.

"Good luck." he said, watching her straighten her hair and hurry down the stairs, shaking his head. Illusen was a tough girl, but she was far too self conscious, no matter what she looked like. He was sure that if she had any lower opinion of herself, she would become completely invisible.

"Invisible Lou…" Recut muttered, hearing the door close. "Oh man, that would be horrible… Never again." he said, chuckling. "Nope, never again… I should probably build something."

True to his promise, no one really mentioned ever being in Illusen's room, though Sam did seem a bit more hawkish than usual. Illusen rather meekly helped with the project, looking down and fidgeting and with her shoelaces but did contribute, and all was well.

All stayed well. The well continued into the next day and then the next, the next of the next and everyone just assumed that Illusen was a friend now, Illusen herself included. Time passed and after one, two, three months, it was November and everyone was happily bundled in their winter clothes, getting ready for the upcoming cold as Danny marveled at the lack of ghostly interference.

Since the fight with Freakshow, Danny Phantom fought and defeated exactly one dozen foes, most of them far too easily. It was strange, but still nice to not have to worry about ghost attack and just act like a normal high schooler. At the same time, his family was acting rather placid, not being overly violent, almost as if they all could feel the unsettling feeling Danny could.

It was like a tension between his shoulder blades or a vertebrae that stubbornly refused to pop, and often he didn't notice it, but when he did it was nagging. Like the feeling on having a shirt on inside out, like the feeling that something had been forgotten. It wasn't urgent, but it grew stronger daily and Danny sometimes fell asleep trying to think of what could be off.

He never woke up with the answer.

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**Insecurity, teenagers! Ah, if only this furthers the plot... Also, does anyone feel like I'm going too slow? I'm secretly afraid that I am very slowly boring my readers to death with monotony. Anyways, if you like then you should put a ring on it. Or, alternatively, just find wherever the review button may be at the moment and press it. And then leave a review. **

**~Natalie**


	5. In which ghosts and plot devices appear

**Haha haha haha... What's a regular update schedule? *sweatdrop* Have I ever mentioned that I occasionally fail at life? And that I'm still only human?**

**So yeah...**

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One rather unexceptional night, Danny as nearly asleep when he felt a sudden chill, his ghost sense going off as he exhaled a plume of frigid air. Sighing heavily, he got up and very quietly got to his feet.

"I'm going ghost.' he muttered half-heartedly, the rings spreading as usual, covering his body as he transformed from human to ghost. "Hopefully this won't take too long… I have a test tomorrow." Phasing through the wall, he slid outside and looked around, not seeing anything immediately ghostly. "I have to chase it down… Uhg…"

He flew out, looking around for traces of a ghost, but after ten minutes was he was in Amity Park and had found absolutely nothing. Almost ready to give up, his ghost sense went off again and a tree branch moved, a blue glow coming from it.

"Blacks and bays and dappled grays." a light voice sang as Danny floated up to get a look at the ghost. "Coach and six white horses." It was a female ghost, with long white hair and pale blue skin to contrast her glowing green eyes. She wore a white fitted shirt that showed off her bellybutton and a flowing white skirt that fluttered in a nonexistent breeze as a obviously sleeping bird was seemingly drawn towards her. "All the pretty little horses." Her voice was higher this time, and Danny felt drawn to her as well, floating closer. "When you wake you shall have…" His shoulder touched a branch and it rustled loudly, making them both gasp as the bird slipped out of sight.

"Whoa." Danny whispered and the girl rounded on him, her pupils almost disappearing as she rather quickly shot a blast at him. He snapped out of his trance and dodged, returning fire as the ghostly girl. "Who are you?" Danny half yelled, not liking how she still seemed attractive. "And how did you get here?"

"So if you think your life is complete confusion." she half-whispered half-sang, twisting away from his blasts. "Cause your neighbors got it made… Just call me please, the Grand Illusion. And deep inside we're both the same." Her pupils came back and she turned invisible, putting Danny on the defensive. "I don't want to fight." Her voice was quiet and Danny felt air move past him, spinning and landing a solid punch to her gut as she shimmered back into view, doubled over. "That was not kindly…"

"Neither was attacking me. It happens." Danny swung at her again and she became almost serpentine, dodging by stretching her body away and then quickly wrapping herself around him, too quickly and pinning his arms to his body. "Get off!"

"I am not your enemy." Illusion insisted, her pupils now entirely gone, leaving soulless green eyes. "Don't fight me, because you won't win." Danny concentrated on his hands, holding his breath before releasing a huge bolt of energy, blasting the girl away. "That was not wise."

"Yeah, you keep saying stuff that's a not." Danny said, his hands still blazing as the girl reformed to a normal shape, her eyes back to normal. "Maybe you should not be here."

"I'm telling you, I don't want to fight!" the girl said, her hair beginning to spin around in a wind that still wasn't there. "Just… Just stop, I'll leave if you let me…" Her voice was absolutely enchanting and Danny felt himself weakening. Maybe she wasn't such a bad ghost. "Just leave me alone… Just listen to me…" And suddenly she was in his face with a glowing hand, a vibrant blue-purple that neared Danny's head. "You can't defeat me…"

"I'm going to try." Danny muttered, and her eyes widened as he pushed her away violently. "What are you doing?" She stopped and glared, almost pouting. "How do you do that with your voice?"

"Years of practice." the girl hissed softly. "Years of begging and pleading until I became perfectly convincing… And you're the only one who can resist it…" The corners of her eyes sparkled and she flew at Danny, pulling a single string out of her skirt and transforming it into some kind of lizard still made entirely of string. "Why can you do that?" The lizard turned back into a string and wrapped up Danny's arm, something he immediately began to pull at. "Why!"

A solid blast of what felt like air slammed into Danny and he lost his grip on the string as he shot an ecto-bolt back at the source, getting a gasp in return. He flipped once, just once, and then looked back up, staring at the girl.

"I'm going to fight you." Danny said. Looking at her intensely. Something about her just made him angry, her just wanted a fight. Maybe it was because he was tired or maybe it was because he just didn't know anything about this ghost, but she somehow made him feel disappointed and edgy, like he really wanted to hit something. "Unless you'd like to go back to the Ghost Zone by yourself."

"I'd be more than pleased to." Illusion said, the wind now forming a near tornado that affected only her. "I just don't think that's possible." Her hair and skirt twisted, cocooning her body and with a flash of light, she vanished entirely.

"What was…Aw man…" Danny muttered, rubbing the side of his face, his anger swiftly replaced with exhaustion. "Why do I have the feeling that this is not going to be the last time I see her?" Floating around for another moment, Danny flew home swiftly, transforming back and going back to sleep, knowing that he would be unhappily groggy in the morning. "Stupid ghosts…"

The next morning, he was indeed unhappily groggy and pulling on his closet, he was reasonably distracted. Ghosts were annoying enough, but new ghosts meant new motives and new fighting styles and several random attacks all unreasonably close together.

"Ghosts are… Ugh." Danny muttered, running a lazy hand through his still messy hair. "Alright Fenton, let's try for a good day…"

"I can hear you talking to yourself!" Jazz shouted through the door, and Danny sighed, yanking his shoes on a bit more forcefully than was entirely necessary. "You know, I recently read an article about self communication, I really think it could help you if you'd like to read it I still have a copy." Shaking his head and still groggy, Danny walked to his door and pulled it open, Jazz standing in mid-knock, her fist raised.

"Jazz, I don't want to read it, so don't ask again." Danny said, just as Jazz opened her mouth. "And, why exactly where you standing outside of my door?"

"I just happened to be walking by and was in no way checking on you because I heard you come back in at four last night." Jazz said all very quickly.

"Uhm… Wait, what?"

"Oh darn, I have to go, ah, iron the dog bye Danny!" With a rather rushed hand gesture, Jazz turned and dashed down the stairs, leaving Danny blinking for almost a minute.

"…We don't have a dog." Danny said finally, taking a step back and closing the door, slowly counting to ten and then reopening it to a very normal view of the wall. "We definitely don't have a dog. All is well."

A healthy swig of orange juice later, Danny began the eternal search for his jacket. Somehow, he managed to misplace it daily, and in a new spot every time, which meant that as it grew colder, he was constantly searching for it.

"Where's my jacket where's my jacket." Danny muttered to himself, humming slightly. "Where are you sneaky magically escaping jacket? I want to find you…" He stopped humming for a moment, noticing a very high-pitched noise, almost too high to hear. "What's that noise..?"

What looked like a steel ribbon suddenly appeared just in front of him and flattened into a wide band, glowing red before latching on to him with enough force to knock him over. Surprised, Danny fell back silently and it took him a good second before he began to struggle. In that time, his mother had appeared out of nowhere and just as he tried to push it off, the _thing _tightened and then vanished, leaving Danny gasping.

"Oh Danny sweetheart, all you alright?" his mother asked, her hood down and the now harmless looking ribbon in her hand. "Jack! Something's wrong, the Specter Detector prototype just attacked Danny!" He said up a bit shakily, climbing to his feet and checking his arms and ribs. They seemed unbruised, which was good. "Ja-ack!"

"I'm coming Maddie!" he called, appearing in the hall just a moment later. "Did something actually happen this time? Did we find a ghost?"

"No, just Danny…" His mother looked up, like she was trying to remember something. "Isn't it odd that so many things attack Danny?" She pursed her lips as Danny tried to slink away. "I feel like I know this…" Just then, Jazz came tromping down the stairs rather loudly, arriving at the landing.

"Is everything alright?" Jazz asked, as the strip in her mother's hand gave a tug. "I heard some crashing-Ah!" The ribbon jerked out of Maddie's hand and shot forward, wrapping around Jazz's face with a rather sure amount of force.

"Hey, get off!" Jack shouted, grabbing at the ribbon as Jazz stepped back, clawing blindly at the strip. As soon as he touched it, the ribbon shrank harmlessly and he pulled it away, holding each end tightly in his fists. "Jazzy-Pants, Danny-boy, stay back. There's something wrong with this one."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Danny said, taking a winded and confused looking Jazz by the shoulders and leading her to the door, all thoughts of his jacket forgotten. "We're going to school now." His parents were busy whispering over the faintly twitching piece of harmless looking cloth. "I hope they destroy that one…" Danny muttered, opening the door quickly while looking over his shoulder.

"Oh no Danny." Jazz muttered, just as the ribbon gave a rather violent twitch.

"Oh, so sorry I swear I was about to knock…" The ribbon slid between his father's fingers and Danny whipped his head around to see Illusen standing in the doorway, the two clicking just as the ribbon hit her full force just under the ribs, knocking her back and down the steps.

"No!" It was unclear, later, who yelled it or even how many of them yelled it, but at the time it seemed that was all Danny could think, all he could hear. Before Illusen even managed to stop looking as shocked, his mother had shoved past him and ripped at the ribbon, it shrinking immediately as she stuffed it into her pocket, helping Illusen up.

"That has never happened before we have no idea what went wrong are you alright you're not hurt are you?" Maddie asked, all very quickly as Danny, Jack and Jazz hurried down the stairs. It was an unspoken rule of malfunctions that they only effected the Fenton family and absolutely no one else, not ever. "We're going to fix it right away I had no idea that the prototype would be so flawed can you breathe alright?"

"I'm fine." Illusen said, her hand holding her ribs as she breathed rather heavily. "I'm just a little surprised, that's all… What on earth was that?"

"Its supposed to be a Specter Detector." Jack said, exchanging a very communicative glance with his wife. "Apparently its just a human detector… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh fine, fine." Illusen insisted, waving her hand dismissively with a rather odd smile on her face. Her breaths made tiny cloud with each huff and Danny somehow felt unreasonably worried that she was hurt. "Stuff like this happens all the time, I should have known when I heard the frequency, I'm fine." She straightened up, her backpack jerking her shoulders back as she did so. "I was, uhm, just going to ask Danny if he wanted to walk to school with me?"

"Uh, yeah, one sec." Danny said, turning and finding his own backpack quickly and sliding it on. He turned back to Jazz giving him a rather peculiar look, which he easily ignored as he hurried down the stairs. "Bye Mom, Dad, Jazz! Let's never mention this." He took Illusen by the arm and began walking quickly, making sure he was out of earshot when he whispered to her, "Let me start by saying that I am so sorry. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"Yeah. I'm unusually great." Illusen said, still holding her ribs. "Did your mom say that was a Specter Detector? I don't think." She took a deep breath, a hitched breath. "I've ever seen anything that flexible. It looked." Another shaky breath covered with a laugh. "like it was swimming, did you see that?"

"Yeah, I saw it right before I dodged madly." Danny said, looking at her sideways. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes downcast, but she was still grinning. "Are you fazed at all that an evil ribbon attacked you?"

"It was a surprise, nothing more." Illusen said, looking downward as if her feet were thrilling. "I've had much stranger hit me at worse angles. Ghosting conventions can get really wild." Her eyes slid up wards and her eyes met Danny's quickly. "Besides, whatever that was looked great… Even if it did seem flawed."

"It was wrong, completely." Danny said, feeling tired again. "It's the first thing since the vacuum that's attacked Jazz and nothing's ever gone after someone who isn't in the family."

"Really?" Illusen asked, her eyes widening. "Never… Did you say it got your sister too?" Danny nodded and she shook her hair violently, like a dog shaking off water. "Oh amazing, what do you think is wrong with it?"

"No clue." Danny said. "I just hope it doesn't get me again. Or anyone else, especially not you." He somehow felt guilty, like it was his fault that his parents' wayward device had gone after her.

"I'm sure it won't." Illusen said. "These things have a habit of working themselves out."

They arrived at school and Illusen slipped away to her locker as Danny made his way to homeroom. There, he noticed a huddle of popular girls, all whispering and giggling softly, Paulina and Mary Sue both highly visible. Danny skirted around them and took his seat, finding Tucker already distracted beside him.

"Hey Tuck." he whispered, hoping he could get past Tucker's vacant expression. "Tucker, pay attention." He wasn't the only one distracted by the girls; it seemed like every other boy in the class was starting at them, dazed. "Tucker!" Danny hissed, poking him just under the ribs.

"Ow what?" Tucker asked, blinking and looking at Danny. "Whoa, that was weird."

"Yeah, and so was my night." Danny replied, wanting to tell someone. "Some new ghost showed up last night and Tuck, this is a problem. She's like a weird enchanting snake thing and its creepy."

"Snake?" Tucker asked. "Dude, that sounds serious. Aren't snakes generally bad news?"

"Its more the hypnotizing ability that bothers me." Danny muttered, thinking back to the eerie weightlessness he had felt under her spell and how easy it was to just listen to her words. "She like… sings. Its just weird."

"What's weird?" Sam asked, leaning over Danny's shoulder. "Why are you boys conspiring instead of staring vacantly at the girls like every other guy in the room?"

"Don't forget the girls." Tucker quipped and Danny looked up to see that even the girl looked mesmerized now, moving around Paulina and whispering lowly. "They must be talking about something really cool…" His voice trailed off and he turned to stare at the girls just as Danny heard hints of the whispers. "Wow they're distracting…"

"Hey guys." Illusen slid in beside Danny, looking just very quickly at the popular bubble, whose attraction seemed to be growing stronger. "Some kind of cool meeting, like important gossip or something?" She brushed her skirt flat and Danny looked away, focusing on her instead. "I was never any good at keeping up with popular gossip, but hey, I'm sure if its important I'll hear it eventually."

"It doesn't sound important." Sam muttered, looking at the almost sparkling cluster. "I can almost hear it… Maybe if I were closer…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Illusen whispered, and Danny, Sam and Tucker turned to face her simultaneously, making her jump slightly. "I-I mean, you never know when the popular forces are trying to suck your soul out." She laughed nervously and began twisting her hair around her finger. "Oh wow, it smells like cookies all of a sudden."

"Chocolate chip." Danny said, seeing the popular crowd immediately break apart as Kwan walked in with a large plate of hot chocolate chip cookies, little steam clouds wafting behind him. "Why are there cookies this early in the morning?"

"An excellent question Mr. Fenton." Lancer hissed, and Danny jumped slightly, surprised that anyone had been lurking behind him. "The most important question is, are there any for me?" Walking forward, Lancer made his way to Kwan and quickly received a cookie.

Illusen sighed quietly and the class fell back into their normal patterns, though Mary Sue, Paulina and Star kept passing pink-papered notes the whole time. Everyone acted as if the gossip pool had never happened, and when Danny mentioned his ghostly nighttime meeting, Sam seemed more distracted than concerned.

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream Danny?" she asked, putting a spoonful of sprouts into her mouth as Danny shook his head. "I mean, she sounds weird, but there's nothing very ghostly about this ghost… No vengeance, no modus operands, nothing your parents did wrong. It seems off."

"Are you talking about this morning?" Illusen asked, and Danny jumped again, cursing his inattentiveness. "So sorry, didn't mean to startle you, I can leave." He turned to see that she was sitting next to him rather comfortably, eating a sandwich. "Or just not talk much."

"No no its fine." Danny muttered. "Uhm, what do you mean about this morning?" There was no way she could have known about the ghost attack, or else she would be far more suspicious of him.

"Oh um, that thing at your house." Illusen said quietly, waving one hand. "With the attack ribbon and… stuff." She looked at him sideways, looking a bit worried as Danny felt relieved, remembering that yes, evil ribbons had attacked her that morning in a relatively ghost-unrelated manner. "So yeah…"

"Attack ribbon?" Sam asked, leaning forward. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it was one of Dad's failed inventions." Danny said dismissively. "It sorta… tackle-boa constrictor grabbed a couple of people. Like Jazz and Illy. And me."

"It hit you?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows and her ponytail at the same time as she looked back at Illusen. "Really? Are you alright?" Illusen nodded quickly, biting at her sandwich. "Why did it start attacking, did a ghost show up or something?"

"No, it just attacked everyone who wasn't Mom or Dad, which is weird but not important." Danny said, wanting to talk about the ghost. This was a big problem and Sam seemed just not to care, even though he wanted her to. "Uhm, I think Mom is fixing it, maybe getting help."

"Uncle said she brought it over." Illusen said helpfully. "Also said it tried to strangle him. It seems like it would be a bit dangerous for ghosts if it ever really got up to working condition… Well, if the sensors could be adjusted." Slowly, Illusen pulled out her notebook and began writing, quick slow scrawls that seemed to quicken as she curled her knees in towards her chest, balancing the notebook on them.

"Something is really weird Danny." Sam whispered, leaning in towards Danny's ear, casting a sidelong glance towards Illusen. "Something is just up. Things don't feel right, and you have to admit, your parents normally don't make stuff that dangerous. I think we need to check things out."

"There's nothing to check out." Danny whispered back. "Except maybe the" He looked at Illusen, who seemed to now be ignoring them. "thing I was talking about earlier." Sam just rolled her eyes and Danny rubbed his shoulder distractedly. "Look, I think I'm just tired, there's probably nothing wrong."

"You're probably right." Sam said, looking down. "Its probably nothing."

"Hey guys!" Tucker said, sitting next to Danny and smiling, pulling his hat down. "Didn't miss anything important, did I?"

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**Not too bad, right? More stuff will happen soon, I promise! And the next update is coming in less than two weeks, for real this time. No more school to drag me down!**

**~ Natalie**


	6. In which leaves and ghosts attack

**Summer was invented to give me a break! Let the writing continue! But first, just a small celebration: Reviews! I now officially have two regular reviewers! This is a big deal for me! So thank you guys, I really appreciate that you care.**

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After school, Sam had a dentist appointment and Tucker was tutoring freshman for extra money, so Danny ended up walking home with Illusen, a reverse of that morning. A wind had picked up and her hair kept blowing all around her, something that made her smile gently as they made their way down the street.

"Ah, I can feel winter growing." Illusen said softly, looking up for a moment before the wind once again blew her hair across her face, a few strands sticking to her lips. "It feels great… Cold air, seeing for miles, evergreens, the first snow… You excited Danny?"

"Huh?" Danny had been lost in thought, trying to figure out a motive for the new ghost, and Illusen's words came back to him a bit slowly. "Oh, uhm, yeah, reasonable so. As long as I don't get sick or anything." His stomach growled, and he was reminded of something else. "Oh, Thanksgiving's next week, isn't it?"

"Yeah yeah, it should be fun." Illusen said. "Uncle and I, we normally make a Cornish hen for the two of us, have pie, watch the parade. Good stuff. Your family have any traditions?" She pushed her glasses up as she asked, rubbing her hands together.

"Well, Dad normally makes fudge and ham and occasionally one of the two comes alive, but normally Mom and Jazz make all of the food that doesn't attack us and then we just feed on leftovers for weeks." Illusen laughed softly, and Danny smiled to, thinking back to that fateful turkey attack. "Oh yeah, any family come to town for you guys?"

"Oh… no." Illusen said, quite suddenly looking at the sidewalk. "I, uhm, don't have much by way of family. There's Uncle and… Mom and Dad are usually… busy." She drew her jacket closer, and Danny knew he had touched a sensitive subject. "But that doesn't matter, the two of us are plenty!" She looked back at Danny with too wide of a smile and he smiled back, glad she wasn't too shaken up.

"Yeah, my family gathering are pretty small too." he said. "Mom's side of the family is a bit set in their ways."

"Oh I know." Illusen said, her smile becoming more natural before it vanished. "I mean, not that I know your family, that came out wrong. I just mean I, I know the, uhm, situation feel free to interrupt my blathering at any time…"

"No no, I get what you're saying." Danny said, and Illusen's smile crept back. She seemed weird to him, with how quickly her emotion changed, from normal to panicked to back again. He chalked it up to his knowledge of girls coming from Sam, who normally acted like there were no emotions other than disdain and contempt. "Its fine, you're really not blathering."

"Thanks." Illusen said, and they walked a little farther in silence as Danny's thought began to slip again. "Hey, uhm, Danny?"

"Yeah?" he answered, hoping that nothing would go wrong in the next three seconds as he saw a rather inquisitive looking squirrel looking at him.

"Do you, uhm, like Sam?" You never knew when they were ghost squirrels or normal ghosts in disguise or-

"Whoa what?" Danny asked, clearing his head. "We're just friends, I mean, what would make you think that?"

"N-nothing." Illusen said, blowing on her hands to warm them, her breath escaping as a small cloud. "Just… You seem to talk to her a lot and you smile more when she's nearby and you spend a lot of time looking at her eyes when you think she's not looking and… Yeah, I was just kind of wondering if like you guys were dating and I just sorta missed that or something. Nothing big."

"We're just friends." Danny repeated, trying to figure out how often he looked at Sam's eyes. Probably maybe not that often, not as often as Illusen made it sound, did he. "And, you know, friends… Do stuff like that."

"Okay." Illusen said, looking down and warming her hands again. "Because she does that stuff a lot too and I didn't know if you knew." Ghost squirrels were completely forgotten as Danny tried to think of times when Sam looked at him. She did smile more, but that was just because she knew she didn't have to put up she a tough girl act around him and besides, they had been friends forever. She probably smiled more around Tucker too. "But that's totally not important, sorry I ever mentioned it, I don't mean to be so strange."

"No no, its fine, its just nothing." Danny said, missing the smile that touched Illusen's lips for just as second before she warmed her hands again. "Does Sam really do that stuff?"

"Oh all the time." Illusen sang, and Danny believed her. There was something about her in that moment, something about her attitude and voice that made her seem distinctly right. "All the time…"

Danny didn't remember the rest of the walk home, though he got a feeling that there had been pleasant, light conversation about little to nothing and that Illusen had wished him a good evening from her front door step.

He must have gone to his house and done his homework, then eaten dinner and played video games for at least half an hour before going to bed. He didn't remember anything at all specific, but he knew all those things had to have happened when h woke up the next morning, pulling on his clothes and maybe eating breakfast before going to school in a sleepy haze.

"Danny." Sam whispered, snapping her fingers in front of his nose. "Hello, earth to Fenton, wake up." He blinked and noticed just how close Sam was, and how he was weirdly at school, in class. "You're like the living dead this morning, what's up?"

"Dude, she's totally right." Tucker seconded, texting as he did so. "You almost ran smack into a wall, that was weird. Did you forget to sleep?"

"Hmm?" Danny asked as Illusen sneezed rather loudly. "No, I just feel kinda out of it… Maybe I do need more sleep." He yawned, maybe just to prove a point. "Or less weirdness."

"Fear!" A loud voice echoed around the room and Danny was fully alert as all of the intercoms began to float. "You will all fear me!" A cry rose up from the class and Danny stood up quickly, sliding behind the bookshelf that had been placed away from the wall. Sam and Tucker followed, and a flash of bright light later, Danny Phantom drifted through the wall and over the heads of screaming students. "And now, you shall know the power of the Box Ghost!"

"Of all the ghosts it could be." Danny said to himself. "It has to be the lamest." Sighing, he flew over and saw the box ghost with several packing crates and milk carton, all of which were hurtled at Danny immediately. "Okay, milk gross." Danny said, turning intangible, but not before chocolate milk managed to explode on his shirt. "I hate this part… because it sucks."

"Fear me!" The Box Ghost wailed and Danny dodged more milk, hearing them smash against the wall and he flew in, turning tangible just soon enough to tackle him, making them both intangible as he flew through a wall. "Do not attempt to stop The Box Ghost!"

He shook Danny off and he went tangible as he hit a stack of gym mats, clouds of dust floating up as The Box Ghost flew away quickly, Danny coughing as he sat up, sighing before chasing the fading image of his stupidest and most irritating enemy. He did not want to fight, not now, not this ghost, and not when he could be sleeping or chewing on a pen or not doing this.

"Stupid dumb extra adjective ghost." Danny muttered, flying up and through to the roof, looking at the water tower and not finding anything before he dove through the roof and flew quickly, trying to locate and stop The Box Ghost before he could do anything spectacularly irritating. "Where is he?"

A loud gasp and Danny flew down the hall quickly, following the source of the noise and finding Illusen pushing out for under what looked like moving boxes. She saw him immediately and very quickly reached into her pocket for something, ducking as more boxes rained down upon her.

"These discarded containers are now a valuable accomplish-" Danny tackled The Box Ghost and tried to get a grip on the Fenton Thermos, which he knew had to be somewhere very close, like it always was. "Fear me?" The Box Ghost tried, and Danny had the Thermos in his hand, quickly unscrewing the lid and sucking The Box Ghost in.

"Oh wow." Danny turned and saw that Illusen had managed to push her way out of the cardboard boxes, peeling a piece of packing tape off of her arm. "You… You really did…" And then she did something a bit unexpected, nearly tackling Danny with a rather forceful hug. "You really do care." she whispered as Danny straightened himself up, feeling only a bit awkward. "Danny Phantom…" She let go quickly, tucking her hands behind her back. "Uhm, thank you… And uhm… I'm a big fan so thanks for… proving you're really the hero they say you are? No no, that's not right, its…"

"Well, you're welcome." Danny said, wondering how she had gotten to the second story when everyone else was probably running out the front door. "You are also a completely random person that I have never seen, meet or made friends with before." Illusen made a confused face and Danny just wanted to fly away. "Off to door more heroic stuff, bye now!" Danny phased through the floor, but not before noticing that Illusen was squinted at him, head tilted as though she was thinking, and that she was missing her glasses.

One transformation, several harried students and seven minutes later, class resumed, with Danny being about as interested as he had been before the ghost attack. Instead, he kept casting sidelong glances at Sam, noting that more often that not he would meet her eye and both of them would look away quickly. Maybe Illusen had been right, maybe Sam really did look at him and maybe he really did smile more.

But what on earth would that mean? He couldn't really like Sam because, sure they had kissed when he was controlled by a ghost or as a cover and they hung out together but deep down somewhere, they were just friends and that had to be the end of the story. Wasn't it?

Danny was still thinking at lunch, when a rather pointed piece of bacon made a straight course for his forehead. Blinking, he looked at Tucker, the source of the bacon, who was grinning proudly.

"Dude, you have got to pay better attention." Tucker said, smirking. "You've been so out of it, its like you just floated off. You didn't even bask in the ghost time like the rest of us and chill outside." Tucker pushed his hat down and continued eating his lunch as Danny's eyes wandered back to Sam. He wasn't obsessed with her, he was obsessed with the though of being obsessed with her. Because he wasn't. Man, now even his own thoughts were confusing. "Danny?"

"Sorry dude, I think I need to go take a walk." Danny said, not really noticing much as he got up, walking around and then out of the lunchroom, ready to wander the halls. He was having an off-day, and as he roamed, he ran smack into Star.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Star near shouted, pushing Danny away and bending over to pick up the posters she had dropped. Danny bent down to help her, handing back the brightly colored sheets of paper as he looked at one. "I'm going to need all of them you know."

"A Christmas party at the no-kill shelter?" Danny asked, handing her the last flyer. "That's… new."

"Its for a good cause." Star said a bit huffily, looking at Danny and then handing him back a flyer. "Here, if anyone asks, say you ripped it off the wall or something. But please come, its only five dollars in advance." With a quick look around, Star gave Danny a faint smile and dashed down the hallway, leaving Danny with a flyer in his hands.

"Well that was different." Danny said, continuing in the aimless direction that he had been headed. Instead of actually thinking about anything in particular, Danny decided that deep thoughts about the bricks in the wall were in order, and he stared them down in a contemplative manner.

He managed to make it through the rest of the day, and even got a bit of his homework done before getting distracted again. His attention span really was completely shot, and Danny felt dazed.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself, looking at the posters on his walls. "I don't even know… That should be a problem." A sigh, and then "I am talking to myself. Sign of insanity right there." He looked out of his window and saw Illusen in her yard, dancing around with a rake in one hand. "I should stop talking…"

"I love air!" Illusen exclaimed, spinning and then adjusting her scarf as she continued raking leaves. It had been so long since she had spent time anywhere that leaves had to be raked, and it really was a fun experience. "Oh please hurry winter, I can't wait for snow and break and things I don't even know are coming yet…" She raked a few more of the plentiful leaves towards her accumulating pile and then simply flopped backwards, liking the smell of leaves and grass and cold air. "So. Much. Happiness."

"Lou!" Recut called, and Illusen smiled, sinking deeper into the pile. "Lou, I know you're in the leaves." She could hear him walk over and then saw him leaning over her, taking the rake from her. "Well, you made a good start."

"Uncle, there is absolutely no reason for raking leaves if you can't play in the pile." Illusen said, sitting up. "Besides, I'm freakishly happy. Just be glad I'm not having a minor meltdown like usual and giving you a problem child to fix."

"Ah yes, small miracles." her uncle said, holding out his hand and letting Illy take it, pulling herself up. "By the way, I believe Danny is going to come out in just a minute, so if you'd like to panic about your hair, do so now."

"I have leaf hair." Illusen said. "That is nothing to worry about. Besides, I told you, I've calmed down. I figured out what the problem was."

"I told you what the problem was." Recut countered. "But you did solve it yourself. So, been having good nights? I haven't heard you toss and turn in a long time."

"Not a bit of tossing." Illusen said, looking over her uncle's shoulder. "Hey, Danny!" She waved energetically and Recut stepped aside. "Hey Danny, come on over, I have a leaf pile!" Maybe not the smartest thing she could have said, but at the time it seemed quite right.

"Okay." Danny said, walking over with his hands in his pockets. Something still felt weird, but Danny tried to push the thoughts aside, think about something else. "Hey Illy, uhm, what happened in that ghost attack today?" She looked at him and her smile dropped just a bit, before resuming its original intensity.

"What do you mean?" Illusen asked, taking the rake from her uncle and resuming her attempts at a leaf mound. "A ghost attacked, isn't that normally what happens?" Danny wanted to ask why she had hugged him, but that would involve explaining that he was actually the super powered object of her obsession, ends that did not justify the means.

"Uhm, yeah." Danny said, shrugging and wishing that he had thought to bring a jacket. His house was right there, but going back inside seemed like too much effort. "But I heard you like, personally got attacked." Her grip on the rake tightened as she turned away from him, and Danny wondered if this was going down the path of conversation fail.

"Who told you that?" Illusen asked, a hint of laughter in her voice. "I mean, I got a box on my head, but Danny Phantom came to save the day. Though… I don't remember any one else being there…" She turned, a questioning look on her face. "Who told you I got personally attacked?" And now he had to think of an excuse. This was a bad plan.

"Oh, I just heard it at lunch." Danny tried, looking up at the sky. "Maybe one of the teachers saw it, sounded like it was coming from the teachers' lounge." Illusen shrugged and went back to raking.

"Could have sworn I was the only one there…" Illusen said. "Oh well. Hey, you wanna jump?" She turned to Danny with a smile on her face and put the rake against the side of the house, looking a little more bouncy than usual. "It'll be fun, I promise. Everyone's a little kid when it comes to leaf jumping."

It seemed like a perfectly good idea. Really, Danny couldn't remember the last time he had jumped in a pile of leaves, but it seemed like it had been far too long. Illusen looked perfectly harmless next to all of those leaves, and it wasn't like he was doing anything.

"Sure, why not?" Danny said, and with a smirk, Illusen jumped into the pile of leaves, Danny right behind her. "So why exactly are you doing this?"

"Because its fun." Illusen said, smiling and pushing her glasses up. "Is there any better reason?"

They played in the leaves for awhile, Illusen raking the leaves back up every so often and eventually, the entire yard of leaves was collected into one massive pile. Recut came back out as it grew dark, and got the two teens inside as he bagged up the leaves. They drank cider that had been left on the stove and Illusen seemed to never stop smiling as she and Danny talked and talked and talk.

"Uhm, kids, its dark." Recut said, coming inside. "Danny, you should probably get back to you house, your parents will wonder if you're lost." Danny got up, and Illusen followed him to the door, still laughing faintly. "Glad you and Lou are getting along."

"Yeah, thanks for hanging out Danny." Illusen said, looking down at her shoes as she suddenly became shy again. "It was really great… I hope we can keep hanging out. You seem like… like a really good friend. I liked getting to know you."

"It was cool." Danny agreed, hands returning to his pockets. "We should definitely leaf-jump again sometime." Illusen nodded, and then hugged him quickly, the side of her head touching his before he let go and stepped out of the door.

"Bye!" Illusen said, waving. Danny returned the wave and made his way to his house, delighted when nothing attacked him on his way in the door.

"That was cool." Danny muttered, laying down on his bed. "Illy is cool…" And still distracted, thoughts still swarming, Danny drifted off to sleep.

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**Go to sleep kids! Next chapter will be here within two week, depending on when I get back from build a house camp. And if I'm awake. If it takes a couple extra days, its because I'm getting wisdom teeth out, and I might be slightly loopy on the painkillers. **

**Excuses are for losers! It'll be on time.**

**~ Natalie**


	7. In which important characters emerge

**I feel like a bad person... I'm late on the update! I totally slept through the weekend after my construction week, and my surgery left me too frazzled to remember! Feel free to pelt me with soda cans or mildly explosive fruit.**

**Also, here's the chapter! I'm incredibly excited, because this is the chapter that leads into justification! And I like justification!**

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Illusen, on the other hand, was quickly bustling around, hopping from foot to foot and spinning happily, a silly grin still on her face. Recut watched her, arms crossed but still managing a hint of a grin as his niece almost slammed into the coffee table.

"Uncle this is perfect!" Illusen said, flopping backwards onto the couch, staring at her empty cider mug. "Its not even winter yet and Danny's already my friend, and Sam's my friend and Tucker's my friend and this is perfect! I am so glad I managed to talk you guys into letting me come here!" She kicked her legs and sighed contentedly, picking up the mug. "Things are going so well."

"So, you still think you'll be able to stand leaving?" Recut asked, sitting beside her. "I know you're going to miss it."

"Oh, I miss everywhere we go." Illusen said, looking at the bottom of the mug and trying to read the maker's mark. "But no one ever misses me, and I get over it, same as always. I like to think its enough, just being here." She sat up and looked at her uncle, really looked at him and then put the mug down, crossing her legs. "Tell me about my parents."

"Oh no, its not even Christmas yet." Recut warned, leaning back into the pillows. "You can't start getting mopey and missing them yet, you'll be miserable by Thanksgiving. I will not let you be sad for an entire winter." He looked serious, knowing that his niece would probably ignore him. She was a sweet girl, but she could dwell and over-think like nobody's business. "You're smiling now, I don't want to lose that grin."

"I won't be sad." Illusen promised, playing with a lock of her hair. "I just want to hear it again. Its so strange, knowing they're so close… But they're not." She moved her hand and fingered her necklace, looking down. "Tell me about the wedding again, or how Dad proposed, or how he got Mom to fall in love with him, or my second birthday. Tell the fun stories."

"You know all of the stories." Recut told her. "You've seen them and heard them a million times each. You know them word for word by now."

"But you were there." Illusen said, leaning against his shoulder. "You got to be there and see them and grow up with them and follow them around whenever Dad had an awful idea. You guys were best friends." She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Just one story, please?"

"Alright, alright, what story do you want to hear?" Recut asked. He was a sucker for her puppy-dog eyes and sighing, he leaned back. "I know you have something in mind."

"The wedding." Illusen confessed, a lopsided grin on her face. "Just one more time, please? Just tell me the part about the arrival, hmm?" She smiled softly and fingered her necklace again, looking at her uncle. "Please?"

"First off, I have to describe the weather." Recut started, and Illusen smiled, curling up and sinking into the couch. "You know your father, he pulled some strings and so the weather was absolutely perfect for the wedding. The sun was shining, breeze was blowing, everything was just right. It wasn't even too hot."

"Even the clouds were in order." Illusen reminded him. "They floated in whenever there was too much sun and looked fluffy and docile when there wasn't."

"Hey, either you let me tell the story or you get no story Lou." Recut threatened. "Take your pick kiddo." Illusen mimed zipping her lips closed, and with a grin, Recut continued.

"With that perfect weather, the wedding had to be outside. Your mother made sure they had it at the gardens in early spring, so most of the plants weren't blooming yet, but there was still plenty of green…" With a grin, Illusen leaned back and pictured it all in her head.

Of course this was a story that she had heard so many times before, but it was what she had other than tiny bright moments, memories of her dad from when she was little and just the quickest glimpses of her mother as they passed each other. She knew the stories so well that they were almost memories, like she had really been there and not just a conceiving notion, far in the future. Maybe she had been there when she was younger, or that she could separate what she had lived through from what she had just seen. Stories were like lullabies to her, and as she listened, Illusen could feel herself getting tired and by the time her father had gotten to his own wedding, she fast asleep.

Her uncle continued his story for about to minutes afterwards, checking to make sure she really was asleep before chuckling softly and getting up, watching Illusen curl up on the couch.

"You never did grown out of that, did you?" Recut asked, looking at his sleeping niece. "You manage to fall asleep every time… And you still know the whole story better than I do." Shaking his head, he moved to the other room and got a blanket, laying it over the sleeping girl. "Sweet dreams Lou. Try not to be too active during your days, hmm? I know you're saving all that energy for your nights."

As Illusen slept, Sam was across town nursing a headache. She had gotten a hint of one that morning and it had been waxing and waning ever since. At the moment, she was hiding under the covers with the Fenton Phones in her ears to block out any noise.

"Stupid headache." Sam whispered, trying to ignore the pounding. She didn't normally get them, but when she did, she felt absolutely miserable. It was painful, it was insistent and it was generally making her night suck. "Stupid stupid headache."

She rolled over and groaned, trying not to think anymore than was necessary just in case it made the headache worse. Instead, she tried to very slowly run over that morning's ghost attack. She knew that something about it had been weird, but she wasn't sure what.

First, Danny transformed and zipped away to save the day, which was far too normal by this point. Tucker had gone ahead and run with the crowd, but Sam had hung back, just in case someone tried to do something while the class was gone. That had all been normal, and after a while, she had taken her seat and waited for the other students to return. Sam remembered Paulina coming in first, looking around cautiously, then Dash and Kwan, and then the rest of her classmates that she didn't really like, then finally Danny and Tucker. Danny had looked tired, but that wasn't it. Something else had been wrong.

That had also been when her headache flared up. Maybe that was what was wrong, her head was just being generally evil and had flared up.

"That's gotta be it." Sam murmured, straightening out and trying to get to sleep. One thing that cured every problem was more sleep, and not even thinking about removing her makeup, Sam tried to get to a fitful rest.

An hour later, as Sam slipped into a deep state of dreams, Illusen woke up.

"Oh Uncle." she whispered, pushing the blanket off as she was instantly awake. "You really are too kind sometimes." She folded the piece of cloth carefully and then set it on the couch, looking around the room and seeing nothing but the faint glow of the clock. "But now that I'm awake…"

She drifted through the halls as quietly as possible until she reached the door to the basement, just barely touching it. Even though Illusen knew that her uncle was asleep three floors above her, she still twisted the doorknob very softly, pushing the door open and hearing the trademark squeak. This particular door was actually kept as squeaky as possible just so that it couldn't be opened without alerting someone. It also had a fingerprint scanner, coded to recognize only Illusen and her family.

"Labs are always in the basement." Illusen said to herself, creeping down the stairs. "Why is the lab always in the basement? Is it meant to be tornado-proof or something?" She stepped off the bottom step and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "Maybe its just for an ominous air… Of doom." Her footsteps echoed softly as she walked over to a table full of wire and switches, moving them aside until she unearthed something the same size as an incredibly high-tech basketball hoop. Brushing imaginary dust off of the side, she pressed her thumb to another fingerprint scanner, and there was a motorized whirr as the device expanded to the size of a hula hoop. "Alright, let's make sure it still works."

Flipping up a cover, Illusen unveiled a row of switches, flicking the first, a small black one, with her index finger. Then, crossing her fingers, she threw it up in the air, letting the hoop flip through the air as a grin picked up the corners of her mouth.

"Please don't hit me on the head." she whispered, and like she asked, the hoop instead landed around her, slipping to the ground and bouncing twice. By the time it was still, Illusen was no longer in the basement, and had instead been transported to an imposing front door covered in gears, all spinning slowly. "This is way better than last time." Raising a shaky fist, Illusen moved to knock on the door before it swung open.

"I knew you were coming." Clockwork said with a smirk, floating in front of her before he withered and hunched, leaning on his staff as he aged. "Please, come in Illusen. Has it been long since we talked?"

"Months." she said, following him inside even as the gears turning shut the door tightly. "That's a long time for me… Even though I'm sure you've always know exactly how this conversation plays out."

"That doesn't mean it isn't nice to have it again." Clockwork said as Illusen followed him over floating clocks, trying not to slip through or be distracted by the way they all seemed to sink in towards each other. "Also, if you stay like that much longer, you're going to fall through one of the cracks."

"Huh?" Illusen said, her foot slipping between two clock faces and she wind-milled her arms, pulling her foot back out. "It works better when your warnings don't make these things come true you know."

"But its more realistic." Clockwork insisted, shrinking into a floating baby. "If you don't want to fall, just adapt to your surroundings, won't you?"

"Remind me to go back before I leave, okay?" Illusen asked, closing her eyes as a set of rings appearing near her navel and spreading upwards, switching her into a white fitted shirt that showed off her bellybutton and a flowing white skirt that fluttered in a nonexistent breeze. "Like full back, or I'll forget in the morning, I really will." Her skin turned a faint shade of blue and her hair white and when she opened her eyes, they were a luminous green. "I want to talk to you about maybe staying a little longer?"

"Illusen, you remember the deal." Clockwork said, growing tall and strong with his mouth set at a hard line. "You can stay until March. That's as long as you can go before you begin destroying the timeline."

"Not even until the end of the school year?" Illusen asked, her bare feet curling on the ground as she tucked her toes under the balls of her feet. "You know, a nice, normal time to leave, maybe write some postcards?" She tried to sound hopeful, but they both knew exactly how the conversation would go.

"I'm stretching it by letting you stay until March." Clockwork reminded her as he grew old again. "It's the same as always Illusen. Its dangerous to be out of your own time. When you're somewhere that you don't belong, you're disturbing what should be happening." This was another speech she could recite by heart, but she always hoped it might someday change. "You know the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly flapping its wings could change the wind patterns for years to come. And you, my dear, are much larger than a butterfly."

"Knowing it doesn't mean I have to like it." Illusen muttered, leaning against a rather small clock claiming the time was 7:26. "But can't you just cancel it all out when I leave, when everything snaps back to normal like I was never there? Please?"

"Illusen." Clockwork said, shrinking to the world's most serious baby. "Time travel is a very serious and risky venture." This was a part of the speech. "Every time you're moved around, things happen that otherwise wouldn't. Even if they do return to normal, there is still a lingering effect." More things she already knew. "If you stay anywhere too long, it becomes impossible to completely get rid of the changes you've made." He had never mentioned that before.

"Wait." Illusen said, holding up her glowing hand as Clockwork returned to his usual self. "What does that mean? Does that mean they remember me?"

"More so that they have associative memories." Clockwork corrected, all of the clocks near him spinning faster and faster as Illusen tried to think quickly. "They wouldn't know its you, but words and phrase will trigger emotions." Clockwork chanced a grin. "Like handmaiden. And it gets harder the farther back you go. That's why you can't travel past the 1900's."

"Bu if I stay long enough," Illusen tried, her hair floating in a breeze as well. "If I stay a really really long time, will they remember me? Will they make memories of me and not have me just disappear like I never happened? If I stay… Can I be remembered?"

"Illusen." Clockwork sighed. "You can't stay. That would only end in tragedy." Illusen bit her lip, looking down and her personal wind picked up. "I know it will. I know everything."

"I can make it work.' Illusen pleaded. "I can stay and just go through high school with them and not ruin anything, just stay and disappear for college and fade slowly, I can make it work I promise. It doesn't have to end in disaster." Clockwork shook his head, his beard nearly touching the floor. "Please." Illusen said, her green eyes bright with more than just a spectral glow.

"It has to be this way." Clockwork told her. "You can't stay too near to him, the both of you will draw nothing but trouble and attention."

"But you don't understand." Illusen said quietly. "I just want to be with him. It doesn't matter how old he is or if he knows of if he cares, or if she cares either, I want to be with both of them. I want to be with my parents, just for once Clockwork. I hate running and knowing that they're out there and never never getting to see them…" Her hands started to glow a very faint green, and she curled them into fists. "I want to just be able to talk to my dad, have a father-daughter relationship… I want him to really know I exist."

"He knows you exist." Clockwork assured her. "But you can't stay. Amity Park is full of ghosts already, something's bound to hunt you down soon. March is the absolute latest you can stay."

"I can take them." Illusen said, the glow fading from her hands as the power faded from her voice. "I can take anything, that's why I have these stupid powers, right? So I can fight?" She clasped her hands behind her back. "Why do you even both giving me all these cool little hints about how to make people remember me if you're never actually going to let me hang around long enough to?" Staying quiet, the baby floated, watching the girl as she floated very slightly off the floor. "I mean, I can take care of myself. I'm not just a little kid."

"You're still young." Clockwork said gently, growing older than her. "And it is dangerous. I know you don't like to think about it, but you're a very powerful young lady."

"Dad is stronger." Illusen said, sighing and shaking her head. "He was already better than me right now, and he only got better… You could hide us somewhere, the whole family. We wouldn't have to all be broken up and hiding through time and so far apart… You know I haven't seen Mom since I was like twelve? And its been over a year since I saw Dad… Would it really hurt that much to stay just a little longer?"

"You know it would." the old man behind her said, hunching towards her. "You know that you're going to move again in March and you're going to miss it and then internalize everything and pretend you don't care and learn to love the 1970's." Illusen sighed again and the baby moved back. "It's the same every time."

"It sure does come back to haunt me every time." Illusen muttered, barely noticing as Clockwork shook his staff gently. "Ugh, anyways… Uhm, can I get a key to your house that I don't have to chuck into the air and then dodge? It hurts when I throw it wrong."

"It has to be activated by motion." Clockwork said, a slight grin on his face. "Besides, you're better at it than you think. You just doubted yourself the first time. It wouldn't have hit you otherwise."

"Yeah yeah." Illusen said. "World's best hula hoop I guess…" Looking at the door, Illusen let her feet very lightly touch the ground and then made her way towards the door. "Anyways, thanks for talking to me… And, the seventies were cool, right? Kinda turbulent, but really free, right?" Her footsteps were light, and she almost stopped at the door, like she knew that she needed to wait.

"Don't leave just yet." Clockwork said, spinning his staff before putting a hand on Illusen's shoulder. "I've still got a treat for you. I knew you'd be upset."

"You know everything." Illusen said, looking back at him hopefully. "But okay, what is it?"

"It should be coming in right about… Now." Clockwork said, and a knock sounded at the door as he finished his word. Illusen looked at him and he smiled. "Go on, you can open it."

Grabbing hold of the knob, Illusen pulled the door open to reveal a man not much taller than her, with messy black hair and bright blue eyes and a smile on his face. He was obviously along in his years, a crinkle in his forehead while he smiled and just a touch of stubble framing his jaw, but it was still apparent who he was. Though older, Danny Fenton was standing just outside of Clockwork's door, deep in the Ghost Zone and as Illusen came to her senses, she released the doorknob and nearly tackled him.

"Daddy!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around his midsection. "I've missed you."

* * *

**Ha! Who saw that coming? And don't lie, you weren't supposed to see it.**

**~ Natalie**


	8. In which no one leaves fully satisfied

**Hey guys, and welcome! This chapter was a bit of a tricky on for me, so don't be too surprised if the pacing is off or the transitions seem abrupt. Still, I hope you enjoy it! It even comes with explainations!**

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"I've missed you too Illusen." he said quietly, hugging her back before she let go, grinning madly. "You've certainly gotten taller, haven't you?"

"You always say I'm taller Daddy." Illusen said, looking at him quickly, grabbing his hand to make sure he wouldn't fade away. "And you." She turned to Clockwork quickly. "You could have mentioned he was coming so I would know not to let my face get all blotchy and weird and look like I'm going to cry." Clockwork just smiled at her, fully grown. "Please say you're for real and I'm not just dreaming please be here."

"Ha, no dream, I promise." her father said, stepping through the doorway as Illusen still held onto his hand. "I see you planned on surprising us both, huh Clockwork? And here I thought you just wanted to talk to me." He grabbed Illusen just above her waist, picking her up and spinning her. "Oh, you're such a light ghost, let me see you."

Illusen touched down and familiar rings moved across her, moving up to give her light skin covered by a long black shirt and jeans, her smile peeking out from behind light pink lips and bright periwinkle eyes flashing as she waited for her father's approval. Every second she spent with him felt electric, like something you would expect from a bad romance novel, but better. He was here, finally with her again, and Illusen was just happy.

"You still look just like your mother." her father said, smiling in a way that clearly told her he was remembering, trying to think of the last time he had seen anyone. She had seen that look too many times in the mirror not to know it. "And your hair… Are you ever going to cut it?" Her hair fell down her back and curled in odd directions in odd places, making it look wild and full. "Not that you need to. Its lovely."

"I'm not cutting it, don't worry." Illusen said, wishing she could think of what to talk about now that he was here, with her. "I'll let it grow out, just like I promised… Oh, you want to see how I look right now? I match Uncle."

"How's he doing these days?" Her father asked with a laugh. "And go on, show me. I like knowing that my little girl's talented." Neither of them noticed Clockwork smile and then vanish, leaving the tube of clocks with just the two of them.

"I'm not little anymore." Illusen said, closing her eyes as her skin darkened, her hair grew flatter and her shoulders shifted slightly, becoming lower and thinner. "What do you think?" she asked, opening her now dark green eyes. "Its not perfect, but no one doubts that we're related."

"Its fantastic, you're fantastic." Illusen let the changes slide off of her skin, returning to normal. "How did my daughter get so good at being a ghost? You're twice as good as I was at your age, got powers I've never had… Not to mention your mother's charm. You're not dating yet, are you?"

"No, of course not, no one to date at my school." She didn't want to mention that it was his former school too, that her best friends were her parents and uncle, that she had worked out a deal while he had been busy. "I did make some friends though. Uncle thinks you would like them."

Illusen was just very slightly torn. She wanted to tell him everything, that she had made friends and that school was going great and that she had developed new powers that actually worked and that she was getting better at sleeping instead of her usual awful insomnia. But that also meant telling him that she was friends with his past self, that she was going to school in the one place she had been forbidden from ever going, that she had been fighting ghosts there and that she didn't sleep. Seeing her father once a year meant that there was so much he didn't know about her, most of it things that she didn't want him to know. And yet…

"Ha, I trust his judgment. He isn't getting too time tired, is he?"

"Of course not. You know us, a couple of pioneers in time and space. Uncle's doing fine, happily tinkering with electronics… Oh, and we've been going in seasonal rotation for a little while now, so he doesn't have to worry about never ending winter." Illusen knew she was babbling, but she just wanted him to remember her voice, and remember his too, just so she couldn't forget. "What time of year is it for you?"

"Fall, when I'm out there in the human world. It's actually getting close to Thanksgiving. It's less than a week by this point… Where are you?"

"Same place." Illusen said, trying to think of what this could mean. "I bet Clockwork has us both synched up to real time." Figuring out where other people were in the time stream was always puzzling. Her grandparents and aunt were all in the same place, twenty seven years away from her current location in time, while her mother was two years behind her in an undisclosed location. Illusen had no idea what time period her father was going back to, but if it was roughly the same time as hers… Well, it had to mean something, didn't it? There were no coincidences when it came to time travel, only connections that she didn't quite understand. There had to be something. "Real time is so much fun."

"I'm glad you've figured out how to deal with the time shifts, I'm doing awful. I wake up sometimes and spend hours figuring out what year it is and why its snowing in the middle of the summer."

"Aw, I hate summer snow, its just befuddling." And then, the deeper, important question. "Hey, have you seen Mom lately?" With Illusen's question, her father's smile seemed to tighten at the corners and his hands tightened too, something she knew he didn't think she would see.

"A couple of weeks ago." her father said, relaxing just very slightly. "She asked about you and wanted you to know that she loves you very much." That was one of Illusen's least favorite part about the whole separated in time fiasco. Even though she wasn't supposed to be too near to her father, it was infinitely more dangerous to be near her entirely human mother for reasons that had never properly been explained to her. "She even sent me with something, let me see…" He reached back and snapped his fingers, making a small box fall out of his sleeve. Ghost powers, Illusen could outwit in a heartbeat, but sleight of hand still eluded her. "Here you go."

"Are you sure its for me?" Illusen asked, taking the box as her father just chuckled. "Its not funny, Mom hasn't seen me in ages, are you sure its from her?"

"Your aunt found it and was so surprised she shuttled it through time for your mother. And your mother apparently knows something no one else does, and said that you have to have it. So, yes, its from her." With careful fingers, Illusen opened the hinged box, gasping.

"No way Dad, this is Mom's ring, I can't have this its hers!" Illusen tried quickly, pulling out the slightly battered blue class ring and holding it up to the light. "It even has Wes written right inside…" Her voice lowered, and she looked from the ring to her dad. "Everything's okay right? Nothings wrong with Mom, she's not sick or anything is she?"

"No, nothing of the sort." her father said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Actually, it's a bit of a time glitch… When your aunt found the ring, your mother already had hers… She sent you the one she's been wearing, and she has the one from the future. She said she wants you to keep it near your heart, alright?" Illusen nodded, slipping the ring into the palm of her hand and making a fist. "That's a girl… So, are you happy?" This was the serious question, the one that she had to answer just right or they would both be guilty until they met again.

"… Yeah." Illusen said, a bit of a lopsided grin creeping onto her face. "Yeah, I am happy… It's a good place." And then, a question she had never dared to ask. "Daddy… Are you happy?"

"I'm happy to see you." he replied, ruffling her hair. "And I'm never happy about being away from you… But its for the best, right? I'm happy just as long as you're somewhere safe." If only he knew…

Illusen smiled, and at the same time felt a tug at her ankle, like someone pulling her back. Quickly, she hugged he father, putting the ring box back inside his hand and held on as tight as the tugging increased.

"Illusen." her father, Daniel Fenton, Danny Phantom, her hero whispered. "You know you have to let go." She did, and with a quick jerk, she found herself back in her basement, nothing but the ring in her fist to suggest that she had ever moved.

"I hate letting go." she whispered, uncurling her fingers and looking at the ring. It was just like the one her mother always wore, and Illusen knew it could have come from no one else. She kissed it gently, and then pressed it to her chest, wishing it would somehow convey her feeling. "I'll keep it Mom. Just for you."

Back in the Ghost Zone, her father was floating just off of the ground, tapping his foot as he waited for Clockwork to come back. Seeing Illusen had been a lucky surprise, but he was there for much more serious matters. First, however, he needed Clockwork.

"I know you know I'm waiting for you to act like you care that I'm here." he said to a relatively empty room, ignoring the ticking. He had spent so much time with Clockwork that he never even heard ticks anymore, except when he first moved to a new time. Then, he could never escape that second marker, normally not for hours. "I also know that you can hear me."

"Of course I can hear you Daniel." Clockwork said, floating in from nowhere. "I also know why you're here. And that its still not what your looking for." Aging quickly, hunching, stooping, withered. "You can leave now Daniel. You already know exactly what's going to happen, what you're going to see."

"You already know that I'm not going to listen to you." Daniel replied. It was always tiring talking to Clockwork, trying to figure out what he was doing that Clockwork already knew about. It made him second-guess himself. "Just let me see, like every other time. I want to see if I can change it this time, just let me look."

"As always Daniel." Clockwork said, and Daniel followed him. "You know, I've seen it too Daniel, and there is no other way this scene ends. This is what always happens." Clockwork waved his hand and the screen appeared, showing Daniel the scene that had been playing in his mind for years. "Watch again if you must."

It was right inside Amity Park, the park, a scene that was normally serene and for a seconds, all was normal. Then, a single blast destroyed the park, a bright light that obliterated everything just as a very confused Grand Illusion appeared, ducking as she looked around wildly. Behind her was a rather angry looking Danny Phantom, eyes and hands glowing as he chased her and dodged another of the bright beams.

"What did you do?" Danny demanded, shooting a bolt at Illusion that she dodged quickly. "What did you do, why are you here, why are you hurting people? You haven't even explained what you're doing yet!"

"I'm not doing this, I promise!" Illusion said, flying upwards as the scene panned out, revealing the most despicable ghost imaginable: Dark Dan. "I don't know how he got here, he just comes every time, I can't fix it!" She turned invisible and Danny stopped short, looking at Dan instead.

"I can't stand this!" Danny yelled, glaring angrily towards the sky and returning fire as Illusion twisted behind a tree, her back to the bark. "Why can't anything go right!" A ring of black fire fell to the ground as an answer, and as Danny dodged, Illusion looked up suddenly, her lips moving rapidly as she looked at her feet, and took to the sky. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I don't know." Illusion called back. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it right. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing it." As she rose, she accelerated and when she got within ten feet of Dan, he whirled around, sending a blast straight towards her.

What happened next was barely visible, something Daniel only knew happened because he had seen the scene so many times. Illusion threw up her arms and the blast curved around her as it forced her down into a reasonably sized crater as Dan dived after her. Danny dodged the falling ghosts, but just barely and as they hit, dust kicked up quickly. There were a couple flashes of light, all strobe-quick and conveying more violence that should have really been capable of light.

"Fuck, this part hurts!" Illusion shouted, and then-

The entire scene went white with a shock, and when the white cleared, Danny Phantom was floating alone in a decimated park. Trees were broken, benches leveled, bushes gone entirely and not a sound from anything could be heard.

"What… Just happened?" Danny asked himself quietly, floating off the ground as he peered into the crater. "Did they-"

"Stop stop, its still the same." Daniel whispered and the scene froze, Clockwork floating over him with a look of concern on his face. "Why doesn't it ever change? Why does she die every time?" He had seen the end too many times; what had been his daughter laying in the crater, a mess of ectoplasm and all too human blood that he could only recognize from the scraps of her clothes that lay soaked in her blood. "How does she even get to Amity Park? Nothing happens there, I don't remember her ever being there."

"Its always the same Daniel." Clockwork replied, an adult. "They fight, there's the explosion, and you, neither there nor here, know why or what happened. Why do you keep looking for a different outcome?"

"Because she's my daughter!" Daniel exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "You don't understand, that girl is my life! She's my daughter, flesh and blood and somehow, I have to know that she's just going to die and there's nothing I can do? I know I attract enemies, but that why she travels, that's why everyone I love floats through time, so even if I cause the end of the world, they're safely years away, timelines away. Why is it that no matter what, she ends up back in time, in my hometown with stupid teenage me and has to die?"

"Because that's what happens Daniel." A floating baby, just mocking him with such a solemn, ancient voice. "No matter what any of you do, this will happen. There's no way to undo it. You should know by now Daniel, that you can't change the future anymore than you can change the past." Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. "That's why you're better off not knowing."

"You've changed the past before, changed the future. I know the fate of the world isn't at stake, but please. You could save her. And seeing her today, I know its going to be soon. She looks so…" Daniel gestured towards the air almost angrily, and the elder floated towards him. "You won't, will you?"

"You seem so determined to convince me." Clockwork said. "Are you just convincing yourself? And just hold on for a moment, will you? I'm expecting another visitor." A shimmer and a chime, and Daniel turned around to see a woman with black hair and violet eyes, looking flawlessly ageless as always. "Hmm, early again Samantha."

"I'm always early." Samantha replied, immediately walking over and hugging Daniel. Their brushes in time were always fleeting and so brisk, because they never knew when an attack could come. Daniel simply had too many enemies, and being a human meant being vulnerable. "Third time this year."

"Seventh for my year." Daniel replied. "But for me, its November." Samantha nodded and Clockwork drifted away, trusting them to share their moment.

"Oh Daniel." Clockwork muttered, twisting his staff in his withered fingers. "You don't need to worry so much. Just because she got hurt once, that doesn't mean you have to cut yourself off from everyone you love… Your family is a hearty sort. I'm sure they'll survive most of anything."

In the Amity Park morning, Illusen awoke to discover that she had not only managed to fall asleep in the lab, but that her uncle had noticed, and was shaking her awake so she could make her way to school.

"You know, you have a bed for a reason Lou." her uncle reminded her, not unkindly. "And that reason is for sleeping in."

"Psh, why sleep in my bed when I have the lovely freezing lab floor?" Illusen asked groggily, blinking hard and then grinning softly. "I saw him last night Uncle, he talked to me, I even got the ring, Mom gave it to me…"

"I'm sure you had brilliant dreams." her uncle replied, holding out his hand. Illusen took it, letting him help her up and with a smile, he brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Ready to wake up dreamer? Because school starts quite soon. Like… half an hour quite soon."

"Whaaat?" Illusen asked, shoving her hair back, the texture startling her. "Uncle how did you let me sleep so late, I'm not even matching!" Arms flailing, Illusen closed her eyes and her skin grew darker, almost dripping down. "Ugh, so sorry I fell asleep down here I hope you're not mad, I just wanted to ask if I could stay a little longer and it went so well and I hate that Clockwork never sends me back the same time I left I missed like two hours how's my hair?" Illusen said all of that very very quickly and while still moving her hands, trying to think. "I'm already dressed I need something to eat and I have scummy breath and I have to walk!"

"I know its beside the point." Recut called as Illusen dashed up the stairs. "but you know you can always just fly in. No one will noticed."

"No, human only!" Illusen said, yelling down from the top of the stairs. "Human by day, that's the rules. I fly by night." She ran, slamming the door behind her and her uncle could hear her feet as she ran through the house.

"Oh Lou, you're far too busy sometimes, aren't you?" Recut asked himself, hands in his pockets. "Oh well… I should probably figure out what's going on with the new… thing I haven't named yet." Pulling up an incomplete set of wires and circuitry, Recut flipped it over, picking up a very small soldering gun. "Que sera sera…"

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**This chapter contained much of what you the reader will need to know later on in the story. Also, don't forget that I've been hiding delightful plot points throughout the story so far.**

**Please feel free to review at any time! Your comments are both appreciated and my main source of food. That's right, I live off of other people's opinions. What a bizarre existence.**

**~ Natalie**


	9. In which students feel the need to sleep

**Hello lovelies! This chapter involves confusing myself - just very slightly - and a shout out to one of my reviewers. You know what that means... Plant crazy ideas in my head, and they can be worked into the final plot, so that you can feature very briefly along with most of the other loose ends I tie up... Rambling! Its like an addiction, for people without attention spans!**

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After her initial panic, Illusen managed to brush her teeth and find something citrus-free to hold between her teeth as she pulled on her jacket and hopped into her shoes, almost tripping out of the door. She hated oversleeping, it always made her feel flushed and like something was missing. As she tripped and stumbled down the block, Illusen bit into what turned out to be toast and tried to recap every moment of the previous night, trying to hold onto it like she was still holding the ring.

"Oh man." Illusen muttered, looking at her hand and seeing that sure enough, her mother's ring was still tightly in her fist. "How did I manage to run off…" Looking around, Illusen made the ring intangible and slipped it onto her necklace, dropping the chain down her shirt. "So busy so rushed not enough time-" As she ran, she didn't even notice Danny, who was also trying to walk, and ran smack into him.

When the two hit, Illusen's arm involuntarily went intangible, sliding through Danny's shoulder and back before she yanked it back, making sure it was solid and holding on tightly with her other hand. Danny, for his part, looked startled and then suddenly horrified, and Illusen took a step back.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you I wasn't even looking where I was going I'm so absent-minded-" Illusen started, panicking slightly.

"I really didn't mean it you must have just landed the wrong way and I really didn't mean to hit you-" Danny said at the same time, waving his arms back and forth.

"You're not hurt, are you, nothing weird?" they asked at the same time, Illusen's eyes widening before she smiled shyly.

"I mean, I'm fine, I didn't mean to run into you." Danny said, looking to the side. "I'm just in a hurry to get to school, I'm running a bit later than I should be." He didn't mention that he had been in and out of sleep all night long, stuck between dreaming and just being nearly awake. "You seem to be too." And then Danny noticed that something about Illusen seemed a bit different. "Uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but is your hair… purple?"

"What?" Illusen asked, grabbing a lock of her hair and realizing with certain horror that her hair was indeed a vibrant shade of violet. Something must have gone wrong when she switched back, she must have somehow confused the hair color she was supposed to have with this particular shade in her mind. Not that that made a good excuse. "Oh no…"

"Uhm, any special reason why?" Danny asked, a bit confused. Somehow, brightly colored hair didn't seem to suit someone as quiet and withdrawn as Illusen.

"Oh, I uhm… had an accident in the lab." Illusen tried lamely. Technically, this had happened in the lab. "One of the new serums went wrong and I thought I washed it out of my hair but apparently not well enough… Uhm… How noticeable is it?" Maybe it just looked bright to her, and Danny was highly perceptive. Maybe.

"Very bright." came the response and Illusen sighed. She was going to have to deal with this now, which was fairly miserable. Purple hair? Really? Where did ideas like that even come from? Clouds? "Did my parents help make it or something?"

"No, it was mine." Illusen said, staring at the strand disappointedly. "Oh man, I really didn't mean to have crazy hair… I can fix this…" She shook her head, trying to get the thought of purple out of her mind. "Oh right, I have toast for breakfast!" She quickly took a bite and smiling, looked over at Danny and pushing up her glasses. "This has been an unusual morning."

At school, few people seemed to notice Illusen's hair, and even Danny thought that in the school's yellowed lights, her hair looked much darker and almost normal. Still, Sam and Tucker were both incredibly curious as to how she had managed the change.

"So you seriously got ghost splashed?" Tucker asked, flipping his hat back. "And instead of glowing green and flying you got purple hair?"

"Yeah, I think flying might have been less awkward." Illusen muttered, braiding her hair with a look of distraction. "I can't believe this managed to go so conveniently wrong… Does stuff like this happen often?"

"All the time." Tucker replied, ignoring the glare Sam was giving him. "There was this one time when all the students got-"

"So this just happened randomly?" Sam said, cutting in. "I mean, its just strange… I could swear I've seen that color before."

"It looks like your eyes Sam." Danny mentioned offhand, and both girl's eyes widened as Danny seemed to realize what he had just said. "Not to be creepy or anything, just thinking…"

"No way." Sam said, pulling out a bat-shaped mirror and looking at her eyes quickly, then at Illusen's hair. "No way, no way." Another glance, and Illusen took a critical look at her hair color, narrowing her eyes. "That is not normal."

"Beyond not normal." Illusen whispered, pulling at the end of one of her braids. "Its… weird." Danny took this as a sign that voicing the first thought to enter his mind was not always the best of plans. Not that he had really planned that.

"I'll have to talk to Uncle about this." Illusen said firmly, looking at her hair with a look of utter hopelessness. "Oh stupid stupid hair stupid stupid me…" Danny was tempted to say something, but before he could, a shriek sounded through the cafeteria as Danny exhaled a thin plume of steam.

"Really? Now?" Danny muttered, looking at Sam, who answered by rolling her eyes. Only instead of coming up with a loud distraction, her eyes kept going upward and she slumped backwards in her seat, eyes closing. "Whoa, Sam?" And then there was the sound of so many bodies hitting the ground and as Danny looked up, everyone in the cafeteria was unconscious, sprawled out wherever they had been. "Oh no, not a weird day…" He heard a giggle and looked around, very quickly going ghost and then flying off after the source of the laughter.

"Catch me if you can…" a high pitched voice giggled and Danny kept after it, zooming through hallways and classrooms after someone elusively invisible. "Catch me soon…" One more turn and before he could stop, a giant green barrier had been erected in front of him, which Danny ran into full force, making everything go suspiciously black. "Catch me now..."

"Danny! Danny are you okay?" His name echoed in his head and Danny opened his eyes, seeing a large purple blur until his eyes focused, seeing Sam with Illusen right behind her, both looking concerned. Great. "Danny!"

"Hey, are you okay?" Illusen asked even as Sam began helping Danny up, watching them as Danny watched her. "Did you wake up early or something? The most of the girls were awake once we started looking for you but Tucker won't budge, he's out cold. Were you looking for help? Did you find help? We haven't seen any adults awake either." She was talking quickly, one of the lens of her glasses slightly cracked. Her purple hair was still terribly distracting… "Do you think it was a ghost?"

"No!" Danny and Sam shouted at the same time, both sounding nervous. They looked at each other, then at a startled looking Illusen.

"I mean, I haven't really thought about it." Danny said, rubbing his head and wondering where that sudden ghost wall had disappeared to. "Because… I was asleep in the hall. After panicking and… running down the hall and yeah." His excuse didn't even make sense to him, but Illusen seemed distracted. Good, she wouldn't notice his failing excuse.

"Danny, we should probably go check on everyone else, right? See if anyone else is waking up." Sam mentioned, steering him back towards the cafeteria. "I'm sure you're worried about Tucker." She leaned in close and whispered, "Tell me what happened this afternoon, okay? Come to my house." Straightening up, Sam practically dragged Danny back to the lunchroom, where several bewildered student were sitting up and looking around.

"I hate weird days." Danny muttered, looking. Tucker was still asleep, but not everyone was awake and its all seemed too surreal. "Did you see anything?"

"Nothing." Sam muttered back. "You were talking and next thing I knew, Illy was shaking me awake and hyperventilating. I was kinda hoping you knew what happened."

"Oh, no clue at all." Danny said. "Illy, you see anything?" Silence, and Danny turned around to see that Illusen hadn't followed them back. "Uhm, Illy was here, right?"

"Was." Sam echoed. "She vanishes a lot. Look, tell me what happened Danny, I'm worried. Knocking out the whole school is weird, really weird."

"I don't know what happened… You passed out and everyone was out too and there was some kind of giggling ghost…" Danny said, trying to make sense of the story. "I chased it and then this wall showed up out of nowhere and I ran into in and then you showed up and that's all that happened." Sam still looked worried, but luckily, Tucker chose then to wake up.

"Ahh!" Tucker yelled, shooting up dramatically and tipping over in his chair. "Ow. Why did no one wake me up?"

"Oh trust me, I tried." Sam said, looking as Tucker got back up, adjusting his hat. "You really suck at waking up, you know that?"

"But an hour? You guys let me sleep for a hour?" Danny froze as Tucker checked his PDA. "Shouldn't we be in class by now?"

"It was an hour?" Danny asked, just as Tucker noticed that there were still several people sleeping across the floor and tables. "We were out for an hour?" Suddenly, even thing seemed much more sinister.

"Hey, Illy's passed out on the floor!"

"Uncle!" Illusen shouted, bursting through the front door after school. Everyone had woken up eventually, but there had been no classes and almost everyone had sat in small groups, whispering and worrying. Mary Sue in particular had garnered a group of popularity to protect her, and then promptly disappeared the second school was out. "Uncle, you have got to come quick, _she's _done something and I can barely stand up." Recut appeared at the top of the stairs as Illusen grabbed the doorframe, trying to balance herself. "Did anything go wrong here?"

"Your hair is purple." Recut said quietly, moving down the stairs and grabbing Illusen, kicking the door shut as he walked her to the couch. "You're near pale as death Lou, and she's upstairs. What happened?"

"Chaos." Illusen muttered. "Everyone went to sleep, the whole school and I don't know why and she sucked so much out of me I can barely stay awake… I was out for an hour, only most were out longer and this is terrible, things are already going wrong." She sighed. "Maybe Dad had a reason for not wanting me to be here. Maybe I ruin everything…"

"Maybe you should calm down and talk to… uhm, what's her name again?"

"Its Marie Suzanna Eris Turquoise." Illusen said quickly. "I don't even know where she came up with something so ridiculous… I'm just worried. What if this really is all my fault? What if I can't be here because I destroy things?" Her eyes closed, then shot open. "Oh, I have to do something before I pass out this is wrong…"

"Hi!" Mary Sue said perkily, suddenly in the living room and next to Illusen on the couch, twirling her hair around her finger and stretching her gloriously long legs. "So, I know this doesn't normally happen but… What's the plan?" She smiled, batting her eyelashes and looking at Illusen almost curiously. "Also, how are you?"

"You know, this is weird." Illusen said, her eyes closed. "Having… problem causing clones. Not that you're a problem I'm just… confused. What exactly did you do?"

"Dunno." Mary Sue said. "Wasn't trying to. Something just… happened. Everyone went to sleep and I figured it would get better so I just kinda waited." She bit her perfectly pink lower lip and twiddled her manicured nails together. "I didn't mean it. And this has never happened before, right?"

"Of course not." Illusen said quickly. "I'm not this powerful, you're not, we're not this powerful… It must be something else… That's my fault." She pulled at her purple hair in distress and Recut tried to pull her hands away, only for Illusen to go to sleep again. "Why am I tired?"

"Maybe you should sleep Lou." Recut said quietly, watching Illusen's eyes close again. "I'm sure its been a long day…" Mary Sue sat quietly, her hair almost glistening in the perfectly ordinary light. "Go to sleep…" And Illusen's eyes slipped closed again. "So, Miss Marie Suzanna… Its nice to finally meet you."

"Call me Mary Sue, everyone does." Mary Sue insisted. "And I'm sure you don't need much introduction, you know me so well already… I think." She giggled and flipped her hair, her perfectly even teeth looking whiter than normal. "I don't even know if I should feel bad… I mean, I know I made her tired but if she's me… This is such a puzzle."

"Being here is a puzzle." Recut admitted, looking at Illusen and making sure she was asleep. "I keep seeing myself by accident, and Danny and Sam… And we haven't even figured how to get you and Lou back together."

"Its so awkward, being a clone." Mary Sue said softly, her voice flowing more smoothly than a brook of silk. "I mean, I know she's real and I'm just a little bundle of idealism that got ripped out when we came here but… How?"

"I don't even know." Recut admitted. "Uhm, how are you adjusting?"

"Adjusting?" Mary Sue asked with a laugh like the tinkling of bells. "I'm exactly what I've always wanted to be. I'm flawless and popular and adored by everyone. And since I haven't got a single memory or distinguishing characteristic, all I have to do is bask in my own happiness… And apparently, cause a bit of chaos now and then without even the ability to angst over it like I should." Her smile was a little wider now, almost forced. "But I can't complain. Everything is perfect, and I'm exactly what I'm supposed to be." Her eyes glistened, and Mary Sue looked at Illusen, running her hand through the tips of her hair. "You're awful concerned too, aren't you? About why we can't be here? And I know I'm not easing your worries."

"Don't talk like that." he said, cutting his eyes towards Mary Sue. "You'll sound just like you're Lou as usual." At that, Mary Sue giggled and kicked her legs. "I really haven't seen you much since we came here though."

"Girls like me and girls like Illusen don't hang out together." Mary Sue said, explaining the most obvious thing in the world with a roll of her eyes. "And she believes it so well, like how she believes she so powerless that she never even uses her powers… We'll never cross paths. I'm amazing and she doesn't think we can coexist. I'm surprised she would even let someone as awesome as me in your house. I think I might intimidate her, really… I intimidate myself."

"Where do you live?" Recut asked abruptly. Something about Mary Sue was unnerving, but at the same time, he could see Illusen peeking through in her. She was Illusen's clone after all, but something about her was distinctly unlike Illusen, something more than just the fact that she looked and acted and spoke differently. She had a grin like she knew too much, or maybe like she didn't know a thing and just knew how to bluff with a grin.

"I live in the school silly." Mary Sue giggled. "Its not like I really do anything. They've got all kinds of panels and no one can even see me when I'm invisible."

"Well, you can always live here if you need it." Recut offered, hoping she would take up the offer. He was almost used to taking care of Illusen, but now that she had split into two parts and only one of them was under his care, he couldn't help but feel nervous. It was like his daughter had suddenly morphed into twins, even though Mary Sue had an air of being less than real.

"Psh, live here." Mary Sue said dismissively. "I don't need to be here, and I'm going to disappear soon enough. No need to worry about something like perfect little me. Besides, I already scare myself enough." And with a wink, Mary Sue disappeared.

"Of course she has ghost powers too." Recut muttered to himself. "Of course Lou would create a crazy clone and not tell me for a month. Of course this would be unprecedented…" He rolled his eyes, looking aimlessly towards the ceiling. "Danny, you're gonna owe me big time for all this."

Next door, Danny Fenton was trying to very hurriedly explain to his parents why what had happened at school was perfectly safe and reasonable.

"Really Mom, everyone just went to sleep." Danny insisted. "It wasn't even highly explosive or deadly or anything, I promise." Somehow, his parents had found out about the mass blackout before he had gotten home, and now he had to explain it away. "Uhm, the teachers weren't concerned?"

"I don't know Danny." his mother said, looking at her husband. "Jack, does that sound normal to you?"

"I fell asleep in class when I was younger all the time honey!" Jack reassured her. "Don't worry Maddie, that's what kids do. And Danny, keep you grades up." Danny was just relieved that his father believed him and seemed to be convincing his mother. He just wanted it to be over with so he could figure it out on his own time. Whatever had happened needed evaluation, at the very least.

Still, Danny tried to have a normal rest of the day. Jazz pestered him about the group unconsciousness and he ignored he as usual, stayed up playing video games with Tucker and then finally went to bed, the daily events pushed to the edge of his mind.

Halfway across town, Sam Manson was having a hard time not thinking. She had already gone through three different lists of all of Danny's enemies and their powers, even bothering to look on that odd fansite of his, and there was nothing. There wasn't a ghost who made people go to sleep, so either this ghost was entirely new, or this was something entirely different.

"This makes no sense." Sam said to herself, hoping her mother wouldn't pass by and see light peeking out from under her door. "Something is wrong, its been wrong since school began… But what?"

She had been almost seeing things lately, and it bothered her. It was like she was wearing contacts, but only one and so her vision was blurred in one eye and sharp in the other, but her brain was trying to fuse them together. Only her vision wasn't blurred, it was overlapping. One eye would see Tucker and Illy whispering about gyroscopes and gyro sensors while the other saw Danny and Tucker laughing about a new movie for just a second before they both went back to reality. It happened at home too, and on the street when she saw a boy in shades with oddly white hair walking beside her and talking to her for a good five seconds before he just disappeared.

The worst part was that she knew. Sam knew the difference as soon as it happened, she knew what was the imaginary part and what was real, but that didn't stop her from slipping. She knew she wasn't crazy, but there was something wrong, and she just knew it.

"This is crazy." Sam whispered to herself, seeing a quick vision of herself at Danny's house, enjoying a scary movie marathon. She shut her eyes quickly, but the image was there for just a second and she saw her arm reaching for popcorn even as she knew it was in a fist at her side. "What is wrong?"

In the Ghost Zone, Clockwork sat watching patiently, surrounded by clocks. He had been watching and waiting, seeing poor Sam struggle. It was strange, knowing what would happen and yet not knowing how his knowing affected what did happen.

"Its amazing how many choices they have to make, every day." he told himself. "And how they still manage to make me have to choose…" Sighing softly, he floated back. "I just hate knowing I have to wait until March to explain it all."

And then calmly, Clockwork switched to twenty years in the future and watched a very slow procession of a very large parade.

* * *

**Ha! Its a chapter full of stuff! If the plot is consuming you like an overpowering blob, I apologise. Please review if you liked, hated, were severely confused by or want to feed toast to the chapter. Also if you just like clicking the button. All reviews are appreciated and responded to!**

**~ Natalie**


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